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INTRODUCTION 



This book attempts to outline the most prominent political 
events in Europe and North America during the last fifty 
years. Hardly more than rapid indication of their distinc- 
tive and important features can be crowded into a few score 
pages. Moreover, adequate treatment must be the work, not 
of contemporaries, but of a far later time. What is recent 
has a tendency to fill the eye and destroy perspective. 
Mistakes of judgment and even of fact are liable in con- 
sequence of nearness. 

None the less there is a place and a demand for such a 
book as this aims to be. It was first designed as continua- 
tion of M. Duruy's splendid " General History," which ends 
with the year 1848. It endeavors to follow the method and 
style of which the brilliant French historian was consum- 
mate master. Not content with mere narration, he sought 
to trace out both the cause and its result. These pages deal 
with a period that is seldom touched. Histories of every 
other past period abound, but not of this, so fresh in our 
experience that it trenches upon the present. 

The year 1848, with which it commences, must be reckoned 
one of the turning-points in human history. The popular 
movements which it inaugurated were soon apparently 
checked or diverted into other channels. Nevertheless, at 
last an impulse had been imparted, which, however delayed, 
was no less surely to advance toward a definite goal. The 
glacier, held back for a time, was speedily to resume its 
resistless course. The map of the world, despite the mo- 
mentous changes traced upon it during the last half century, 
discloses only a small part of the transformations which that 
half century has wrought. Yet no other period of equal 
duration has witnessed so many and so varied political 
changes. It saw the feudal atoms of Germany fused into 



iv INTRODUCTION 

one imperial whole. It saw the fragments of Italy, for the 
first time since the fall of the Eoman Empire, united in 
common law under the rule of a single throne. It saw the 
Balkan provinces take their place as independent States. 
During this half century Africa and Oceania have been par- 
celled out and occupied by the Western Powers. The indi- 
viduality of Asia has been lost in their incessant aggressions. 
The American Union has crossed the continent from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, has almost doubled the number of its 
states, and more than trebled its population. 

Yet the changes it has seen in the world's activities and 
thought are greater than upon the world's face. Old ques- 
tions have been decided or pushed aside, and new questions, 
of which our grandfathers did not dream, await the dawning 
twentieth century. Commercial and social problems have 
forged to the front. Development of the individual battles 
with the concentration of authority. As Menu's age of 
thought paled before Pulton's age of steam, so that in its 
turn is being eclipsed by the age of electricity of Edison and 
Bell. Grand things will they behold who are to come after 
us. And we ourselves cannot know too much of the days in 
which we live. 



EDWIN A. GKOSVENOR. 



Amherst, Mass., U.S.A., 
February 9, 1899. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

I. The Revolution of 1848 in its Influence upon Europe 1 
Contemporary History. 
Outbreak at Vienna and Fall of Metternich. 
Troubles in Bohemia. 
Revolt in Hungary. 
Commotions in Italy. 

Popular Demands in Prussia and in Other German States. 
The German National Assembly. 

II. The Second French Republic (1848-1852) ... 7 
The Provisional Government. 
Barricades of June. 
General Discontent. 
Presidency of Louis Napoleon. 
The Coup d'Etat. 

III. Triumph of Reaction in Europe (1848-1851) . . 11 

Subjugation of Hungary. 

Return to Absolutism in Austria. 

Defeat and Abdication of Charles Albert. 

Conservatism of Pius IX. 

Dissolution of the General Assembly at Frankfort. 

IV. The Second French Empire (1852-1870) ... 17 

The Plebiscites of 1851 and 1852. 

The Crimean War (1853-1856). 

War with Austria (1859). 

Material Progress (1852-1867). 

The Universal Exposition of 1867. 

Humiliations of the Empire. 

The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). 

Sedan. 

Fall of the Empire (September 4, 1870). 

Surrender of Metz (October 27, 1870). 

Siege and Surrender of Paris (January 28, 1871). 

Treaty of Frankfort. 

V. Germany (1848-1871) 30 

Rivalry of Prussia and Austria. 

Question of Schleswig-Holstein (1848-1855). 



v j CONTENTS 



PAGE 



King William I and Otto von Bismarck. 
Austro-Prussian Occupation of Schleswig-Holstein 

(1863-1864). . 

Seven Weeks' War between Prussia and Austria (1866). 
Sadowa (July 3, 1866). 
Hegemony of Prussia (1866-1871). 
Unification of Germany (1871). 

VI. The Third French Republic (1870-1898) ... 37 

The Commune (March 18-May 28, 1871). 
M. Thiers, President of the Republic (1871-1873). 
Presidency of Marshal MacMahon (1873-1879). 
Presidency of M. Grevy (1879-1887). 
Presidency of M. Sadi Carnot (1887-1894). 
Presidency of M. Casimir-Pener (1894). 
Presidency of M. Faure (1895- ). 
France in 1898. 

VII. The German Empire (1871-1898) 50 

The Imperial Constitution. 

The Alliance of the Three Emperors (1871-1876). 

Organization of Alsace-Lorraine (1871). 

The Culturkampf (1873-1887). 

Economic Policy (1878-1890). 

The Triple Alliance (1879- ). 

Death of Emperor William I (March 9, 1888). 

Frederick I (1888). 

Reign of William II (1888- ). 

VIII. Italt 57 

Condition of the Italian Peninsula in 1850. 

Count Cavour. 

Piedmont in the Crimean War (1855-1856). 

The War of 1859. . 

Successful Revolutions. Victor Emmanuel and Lran- 

baldi (1859-1865). Alliance with Prussia against 

Austria (1866). 
Rome the Capital of Italy (1870). 
The Last Days of Victor Emmanuel (1870-1878). 
The Reign of King Humbert (1878- ). 
Italia Irredenta. 

an 

IX. Austria-Hungary °° 

Accession of Francis Joseph (1848). 
Austrian Absolutism (1850-1866). 
The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Political Re- 
forms (1866), 



CONTENTS vii 



Acquisition of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878). 
Austria-Hungary from 1878 to 1898. 
Political Problems of To-day. 

X, Kussia 73 

Nicholas I (1825-1855). 

The Crimean War (1853-1856) 

Alexander II (1855-1881). 

Revision of the Treaty of Paris (1871). 

The Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). 

The Congress of Berlin (1878). 

The Nihilists. 

Reign of Alexander III (1881-1894) 

Nicholas II (1894- ). 

XI. The Ottoman Empire ....... 88 

The Hatti Sherif of Ghul Khaneh (1839). 

Massacres in the Lebanon (1845). 

Question of the Holy Places. The Crimean War 

(1853-1856). 
The Hatti Humayoun (1856). 
Massacres at Djeddah (1858) and in Syria (1860). 

European Intervention. 
Sultan Abd-ul Aziz (1861-1876). 
The Insurrection of Crete (1866-1868). 
Opening of the Suez Canal (November 17, 1869). 
Foreign Loans and Bankruptcy. 
Death of Sultan Abd-ul Aziz (May 27, 1876). 
The Reign of Sultan Abd-ul Hamed II (1876- ). 

XII. The Balkan States " 

The Eive States. 

Roumania. 

Montenegro. 

Servia. 

Bulgaria. 

Greece. 



XIII. The Smaller European States 112 

Denmark. 

Sweden and Norway. 
Switzerland. 
Belgium. 

The Netherlands or Holland. 

The Five Smaller European States and the Five Balkan 
States, 



Vlll CONTENTS 



PAGB 

XIV. Spain and Portugal . 119 

Reign of Isabella II (1833-1868). 

Revolution (1868). Experiments at Government 

(1868-1875). 
Restoration of the Dynasty (1875). Reign of Al- 

phonso XII (1875-1885). 
Regency of Queen Maria Christina (1885- ). 
Cuba. War with the United States (1898). 
Portugal. Death of Dofia Maria da Gloria (1853). 
Peaceful Development of Portugal. 



XV. Great Britain 128 

The British Empire. 

Great Britain in 1848. 

Repeal of the Navigation Laws (1849). 

The Great Exhibition (1851). 

The Part of Great Britain in the Crimean War (1853- 

1856). 
Wars with Persia (1857) and China (1857-1860). 
The Indian Mutiny (1857-1858). 
Lord Palmerston Prime Minister (1859-1865). Lord 

Russell Prime Minister (October, 1865-July, 1866). 
The American Civil War (1861-1865). 
Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli Prime Ministers (July, 

1866-November, 1868). 
Second Reform Bill (1867). 
Mr. Gladstone Prime Minister (December, 1868-Feb- 

ruary, 1874). The Irish Question. The Alabama 

Claims. 
Second Prime Ministry of Mr. Disraeli (February, 

1874-April, 1880). 
Second Prime Ministry of Mr. Gladstone (April, 1880- 

June, 1885). 
Occupation of Egypt (1882). General Gordon. 
Third Reform Bill (June, 1885). 
First Prime Ministry of Lord Salisbury (June, 1885- 

February, 1886). Third Prime Ministry of Mr. 

Gladstone (February, 1886-August, 1886). The 

Irish Home Rule Bill. 
Second Prime Ministry of Lord Salisbury (August, 

1886-August, 1892). 
Fourth Prime Ministry of Mr. Gladstone (August, 

1892-March, 1894). Lord Rosebery Prime Minis- 
ter (March, 1894-June, 1895). 
Third Prime Ministry of Lord Salisbury (June, 

1895- ). 
Characteristics of the Reign of Queen Victoria. 
Mr. Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield) and Mr. Gladstone. 



CONTENTS ix 

PAGK 

XVI. Partition of Africa, Asia, and Oceania . . . 141 

Seizure of Unoccupied Territory. 

Occupation of Africa. 

The Boer Republics. 

Occupation of Asia. 

The Route to India. 

Occupation of Oceania. 

Results of Territorial Expansion. 

XVII. The United States 150 

American History. 

Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo (1848). The Gadsden 

Purchase (1853). 
The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850). 
Complications with Austria (1849-1854). 
The Ostend Manifesto (1854). 
Expedition of Commodore Perry to Japan (1852- 

1854). 
The United States and China (1858- ). 
The Civil War (1861-1865). 
Question of the Northwestern Boundary (1872). 
The Newfoundland Fisheries. The Halifax Award 

(1877). 
The Centennial Exhibition (1876). 
The Presidential Election of 1876. 
Assassination of President Garfield (1881). 
Civil Service Reform Bill (1883). 
The Bering Sea Controversy over the Seal Fishery 

(1886- ). 
Trouble with Chili (1891-1892). 
The Columbian Exhibition (1893). 
The Venezuelan Message (December 17, 1895). 
Annexation of Hawaii (1898). 
The War with Spain (1898). 

INDEX 167 



,^> 




CONTEMPORARY HISTORY 



»;*;o 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 IN ITS INFLUENCE 
UPON EUROPE 

Contemporary History. —The term "contemporary" may 
well be applied to the history of the world since 1848. The 
present leaders in all branches of activity were born before 
this period began. Many persons now living have watched 
the unfolding of each of its successive phases. It possesses 
a distinct character of its own. While preeminent in its 
scientific and humanitarian achievements, it has specially 
contributed to political progress, not so much in what it has 
originated as by what it has developed. More than most 
periods of like duration, it is the direct consummation of 
the years immediately preceding. It differs from them as 
the harvest differs from the seed-time. 

Its most memorable achievements in the domain of poli- 
tics have been along the lines of constitutional government 
and unification of nationality. Yet here as everywhere 
else human attainment is partial and incomplete, but these 
two contributions to the advance of humanity will be promi- 
nent as we narrate its story. Because we are so near the 
events to be described and because the sources of informa- 
tion are so many, the narration will be difficult. As con- 
temporaries of these events we are ourselves tossed by the 
billows on which we gaze. 

Outbreak at Vienna and Fall of Metternich. — The prog- 
ress of the public mind is indicated as we compare the effect 
produced in foreign countries by the successive French 
revolutions of 1789, 1830 and 1848. The first revolution 
was attended nowhere by any immediate popular uprising 
and apparently concerned only the kings. The second 

1 



2 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848. 

caused commotions and renewed demands for constitutions 
in some of the smaller states, but the disturbances were 
soon repressed. The third came upon Europe as an elec- 
tric shock. West of Eussia and of the Ottoman Empire 
every state was convulsed. 

Reactionary Austria, of whose policy the astute Metter- 
nich had been for almost forty years at once the incarnation 
and the champion, was among the first to feel its effects. 
The Provincial Estates of Lower Austria were only the 
phantom of a deliberative assembly without power or influ- 
ence. But they served as a rallying point to the excited 
populace of Vienna, destitute of organization or of a centre. 
The Estates were to convene on the 13th of March, seven- 
teen days after the fall of Louis Philippe. When they as- 
sembled the whole city was in an uproar. Immense crowds, 
headed by students, surrounded the hall. They demanded 
that the Estates should be their messengers to the emperor 
and should make the following demands : regular publica- 
tion of the state budget, open session of the courts, freedom 
of the press, reform in municipal administration, and a 
general parliament to which all classes should be eligible. 
The terrified Estates called the troops to their assistance. 
A hand-to-hand fight raged through the streets between the 
soldiers and the people, and many lives were lost. The 
tumult constantly increased, but the citizens could not 
reach the imbecile Emperor Ferdinand IV, who was kept 
in concealment. The battle-cry was " Down with Metter- 
nich ! " The veteran statesman was forsaken by all his col- 
leagues. At last he saw that resistance was useless. On 
the following day he escaped from the capital in a laundry 
cart. The emperor was induced by his attendants to give 
a verbal grant of all that the revolutionists demanded, 
but Vienna was placed under martial law. Finally, on 
April 25, an illusory constitution was proclaimed. Three 
weeks later the emperor fled to Innsbruck. Nevertheless 
his authority seemed at no time endangered. Metternich 
fallen, the people supposed that everything was gained. 

Troubles in Bohemia. — The Bohemians had acted even 
more quickly. On March 11, at a public meeting in 
Prague, they drew up a petition, asking however little 
more than improvement in the condition of the peasants 
and a general system of public instruction. The news from 
Vienna made them bolder. The students formed an aca- 



a.d.1848.] REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS 3 

demic legion. A few days later a second petition demanded 
reconstitution of the Bohemian crown, a Bohemian Diet, 
a Bohemian ministry, and full equality between the Slavs 
and the Germans in the kingdom. A committee was sent 
to convey these demands to Vienna, where it was well re- 
ceived ; but in the constitution promulgated on April 25 all 
their claims were ignored. The irritation of the Czechs 
became more intense. A congress of all the Slavic peoples 
assembled at Prague. Its chief object was to secure recog- 
nition of the race rather than the rights of individuals. 
Against such recognition the government and all the other 
nationalities of the empire were bitterly opposed. Prague 
was captured by the imperial troops and martial law 
proclaimed. 

Revolt in Hungary. — A movement, in some respects simi- 
lar to that in Prague, was meanwhile in progress under the 
lead of Kossuth at Pressburg and Pesth. There, however, 
the desire for reforms was subordinate to the still stronger 
desire for emancipation from Austria. Its dominant motive 
was the sentiment of awakened Hungarian nationality. But 
it in no way included antagonism to the sovereign, to whom 
on many occasions the Magyars have shown a loyalty sur- 
passing that of the Austrians. Nor did it include recog- 
nition of the just demands of the various Slavic and other 
peoples who constituted a large proportion of the popula- 
tion. In April Ferdinand IV granted whatever was asked, 
practically recognizing Hungary as an autonomous state 
with himself as its sovereign. Count Batthyany was au- 
thorized to form the first Hungarian ministry. 

These measures discontented the Slavs, especially the 
Servians and Croatians. The newly appointed Ban of 
Croatia, Jellachich, took up arms, proclaiming his opposi- 
tion to those " who want liberty only for themselves and 
who wish to monopolize for the Magyar minority the treas- 
ures acquired by the sweat of the Slavs, the Germans and 
the Roumanians." A partisan of absolute rule and appar- 
ently in secret alliance with the emperor, Jellachich 
marched upon Pesth. Batthyany resigned, but Kossuth 
was appointed to organize the national defence. His volun- 
teers defeated the Ban. The Viennese, through hatred of 
the Slavs, showed a momentary passionate sympathy for 
the Hungarians. They rose against the government on 
October 7, and begged the assistance of the Hungarians 



4 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848. 

against Jellachich, who now threatened Vienna. The new 
allies arrived too late, for the capital had been already 
stormed and the ringleaders put to death. Jellachich was 
appointed generalissimo. Now, in behalf of the emperor, 
he was about to turn his arms against the Hungarians, who 
boasted meanwhile that they were " faithful to the sovereign 
beloved by Hungary." Feeble-minded and exhausted, Fer- 
dinand gladly abdicated in favor of his nephew, Francis 
Joseph. The Magyars refused to accept this abdication and 
their excessive loyalty gave them the attitude of rebels. 

Commotions in Italy. — Piedmont was independent, but 
Austria dominated almost all the rest of Italy by her arms 
or influence. Lombardy and Venice were subject provinces. 
The Milanese rose, and on March 18 they forced Kadetzki, 
the Austrian commander, to evacuate the city and retreat 
to Verona. At Venice the Austrians seemed paralyzed. 
Daniel Manin was made the chief of the provisional govern- 
ment which proclaimed the Republic of Saint Mark. The 
fire of insurrection rapidly spread. Soon only a few for- 
tresses were left on the Mincio and Adige, where Radetzki 
was resolved to hold out to the last. Forced by the clamors 
of his people Charles Albert, king of Piedmont, on March 
26 entered Milan to support the revolution. 

Pome and Florence were still racked by the agitations of 
the preceding year. The news of the French Pevolution 
came like a wind upon smouldering embers. Pius IX was 
affrighted at the sweep of principles with which by nature 
he was in sympathy. But he granted the Pomans a consti- 
tution and a government by two Chambers, and called his 
sagacious counsellor, Rossi, to the ministry. The Grand 
Duke of Tuscany hesitated but seemed to incline toward 
reform. The king of Naples, Ferdinand II, endeavored to 
temporize with his subjects, though granting a constitution 
and creating a united parliament for Naples and Sicily. 
The revolutionist Pepe even persuaded him to send an 
army of 13,000 Neapolitans to the assistance of Charles 
Albert. The impetuous Sicilians rejected all overtures 
from their sovereign and declared themselves indepen- 
dent. 

Popular Demands in Prussia and other German States. 
— In Baden, Wiirtemberg, Saxony and western Germany 
repressed liberal sentiment at once found expression. Every- 
where there were demonstrations, sometimes tumultuous 



A.D. 1848.] REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS 5 

and often violent. In Bavaria the people forced Louis I 
to abdicate. But Berlin was the centre of agitation. There 
the fall of Metternich, the recognized exponent of the 
autocratic system, produced even more profound impression 
than in Vienna. Excited crowds filled the streets. In 
public meetings the popular grievances were incessantly 
and earnestly set forth. 

Frederick William IV was slow in deciding whether to 
resist or to put himself at the head of the universal demon- 
stration. Finally, on March 18, a royal edict announced 
that the king would favor the introduction of constitutional 
government into every German state and the establishment 
of a parliament wherein all Germany should be represented. 
The rejoicing citizens by thousands flocked to the palace. 
Their cheers were mistaken for an attack and the troops 
discharged their guns upon the defenceless masses. At 
once the burghers all over the city flew to arms. Nor was 
the riot suppressed until more than 200 citizens had been 
slain and as many soldiers killed or wounded in consequence 
of a terrible blunder. When order was restored, the king 
by a dramatic act gained immense popularity. At the head 
of a solemn procession he rode through the streets, osten- 
tatiously wearing the gold, white and black, the colors he 
had formerly proscribed and which were the symbols of the 
German Fatherland. He furthermore announced that he 
assumed the leadership in the great work of German unifi- 
cation. Union was even dearer to the German heart than 
was liberty. But, in addition, the sovereign promised 
radical and comprehensive reforms in the whole system of 
government and administration. 

The German National Assembly. — A few days later, in 
response to a general invitation, several hundred liberals 
met at Frankfort to prepare the draft of a constitution and 
formulate measures to be submitted to the forthcoming 
National Assembly. They frittered away their strength in 
political manoeuvres and retarded rather than strengthened 
the triumph of principles they should have advanced. 
Meanwhile, everywhere throughout the German states the 
deputies were being chosen for the National Assembly. On 
May 18 they held their first session in the newly erected 
church of Saint Paul at Frankfort. That was the grandest 
and most inspiring political gathering Germany had ever 
beheld. It was composed of her most patriotic and illus- 



6 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848. 

trious sons. Now were brought together within the walls 
of a single edifice all who had most contributed to the 
common welfare, and to them was confided the task of 
national regeneration. In its promise this was the golden 
day of German history. 



THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC 



II 

THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC 
(1848-1852) 

The Provisional Government. — It was installed by the 
mob on the day of revolution, and its title to authority was 
based upon the submission with which for a time its orders 
were received. The provinces as usual acquiesced in the 
government set up at the capital. The eloquent orator, 
Lamartine, was at the head as minister of foreign affairs 
and Ledru-Rollin was minister of the interior. The latter 
was a radical. The other ministers were moderate repub- 
licans. This suddenly improvised government was without 
cohesion or plan. Yet, while ruling as a despotic oligarchy, 
it seemed ardently though vaguely desirous of doing some- 
thing noble. In order to furnish occupation to the unem- 
ployed it set up national workshops and guaranteed work 
with pay or pay without work to every citizen. Soon it 
had on its roll the names of over 120,000 men, one-half of 
the laboring population of Paris. Meanwhile it supplied 
bread to their families in proportion to the number of chil- 
dren. Private enterprise became disorganized, and those 
evils increased which the national workshops were designed 
to cure. 

Universal suffrage had been proclaimed. On April 23 
elections were held all over France for the choice of depu- 
ties to a national assembly. Ten days later the Assembly 
met. It reaffirmed the Republic and commended the pro- 
visional government, most of whose members it reappointed 
to office as an executive commission. The socialist leaders 
of Paris raised mobs and endeavored to seize the power, 
but their first attempt was put down by the national guard. 
The national workshops had become the greatest menace to 
the state. The Assembly ordered that all the younger men 
enrolled in them should enlist in the army or cease to 
receive pay. 



8 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 184& 

The Barricades. — Then broke out a fearful insurrection 
at Paris. Barricades were suddenly erected all over the 
eastern part of the city and were defended with military 
precision by the rioters. In the emergency General Cavaig- 
nac, the minister of war, was appointed dictator. The 
pitched battle of the streets began June 23 and lasted four 
days. However disguised by party names, it was a conflict 
between the penniless and the moneyed classes and a menace 
to the rights of property. The insurgents held their ground 
with savage courage and were not subdued until 8000 persons 
had been slain and 12,000 taken prisoners. Among the 
victims were two deputies, seven generals, and the vener- 
able archbishop of Paris, Monseigneur Affre. Horrified 
at the fratricidal slaughter he had climbed a barricade, where 
the fighting was hottest, and was shot down while implor- 
ing the combatants to throw away their arms. 

General Discontent. — The frightful victory left the gov- 
ernment not the less humiliated and weakened. Appre- 
hension and discontent pervaded all classes, not only at 
Paris but throughout France. The masses were sullen 
because none of the socialistic Utopias, prophesied so often 
of late, had been realized. The well-to-do classes were 
panic-stricken at the peril property had just undergone and 
at future perils in store. The state revenues diminished, 
therefore taxation increased. But commerce and manufact- 
ures were paralyzed in the absence of confidence, and it 
was more difficult to pay. 

The Assembly hastily laid the foundations of a new con- 
stitution. It confided the executive power to a president, 
elected for three years by universal suffrage and responsi- 
ble only to the people. It confided the legislative power to 
a single chamber, elected to hold office for four years. In 
the president was vested all power of appointment in the 
various branches of administration. He was to negotiate 
treaties and exercise an indefinite control of the army, but 
he could not take command of the troops or dissolve the 
Assembly or veto a measure which he disapproved. His 
power was either too little or too great. While declared 
ineligible for a second term of office, it would not be difficult 
with the means at his disposal to regain or retain the 
presidential authority were he so disposed. 

The two chief candidates for the presidency were General 
Cavaignac and Prince Louis Napoleon. The former was a 



a.d. 1849-1851.] THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC 9 

consistent republican, a soldier rather than a statesman, 
and the conqueror of the barricades. But the victory, won 
in the blood of Frenchmen, rendered him unpopular even 
with his own party. The latter was the nephew and heir 
of Napoleon. All his life an exile from France, he had 
returned on the fall of Louis Philippe, but when the pro- 
visional government requested him to leave the country, he 
had complied. In June, elected to the Assembly in four 
different departments, he had resigned, though reserving 
his liberty of action. Elected in September by five depart- 
ments, he no longer withdrew, but took his seat. The 
romance of his personal history, his manifest calmness and 
self-control, and above all, the magic of the great name he 
bore, made him a formidable candidate. His electoral ad- 
dress to the nation was a model of tact and shrewdness. 
He received 5,434,226 votes, while General Cavaignac could 
secure only 1,448,107. 

Presidency of Louis Napoleon. — His first year in office 
was marked only by the expedition to Rome, the election 
of a new Assembly, and a presidential message, memorable 
for its energetic and even aggressive tone. The second year 
the inevitable divergence between the chief magistrate and 
the legislative body became more marked. The Assembly 
was composed of nearly equal groups of Legitimists, Orlean- 
ists, and Republicans. The two former regarded the actual 
government as a makeshift or usurpation, which was to give 
way eventually to the coronation of the Bourbon, Henry, 
Count of Chambord, or of Louis Philippe, Count of Paris, 
grandson of the deposed king. All their energies were 
devoted to that end. 

Public opinion overwhelmingly demanded revision of 
that clause of the constitution which declared a president 
ineligible to reelection. Less than two-thirds of the Assem- 
bly voted for revision, but it could be carried only by a vote 
of three-fourths. In May a decree had been passed which 
deprived over 3,000,000 Frenchmen of the right of suffrage. 
It was a fair charge that the Assembly had destroyed uni- 
versal suffrage and, by refusing to revise the constitution, 
had denied the people the exercise of choice. The third 
year was spent in irritating discussions and political ma- 
noeuvring on both sides. On November 4, 1851, the presi- 
dent demanded the repeal of the law which restricted the 
suffrage. The Bill of Repeal was defeated by seven votes. 



10 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1851. 

Between president and Assembly it was henceforth a ques- 
tion which should first be able to overthrow the other. 

The Coup d'Etat (December 2, 1851).— The Assembly 
was at the disadvantage of being a many-headed, many- 
minded body. Louis Napoleon could take his measures 
with the effectiveness of profound secrecy. On the evening 
of December 1 he held the customary thronged reception at 
the Palace of the Elysee. Nothing in his bearing betrayed 
preoccupation or excitement. At the usual hour he with- 
drew and closeted himself with his half-brother, De Morny, 
the minister of war, St. Arnaud, and the prefect of the 
police, De Maupas. They alone were acquainted with his 
plans and upon them depended their execution. Before 
daybreak every formidable opponent of the president had 
been arrested, the principal quarters of Paris occupied by 
guards, and despatches sent out to the 40,000 communes of 
France announcing what had been done. Innumerable 
manifestoes, everywhere attached to the walls, proclaimed 
that the president on his own responsibility had dissolved 
the Assembly, restored universal suffrage, and appealed to 
the people to express its verdict on his acts in a plebiscite 
to be held within two weeks. He proposed a new constitu- 
tion which provided for a senate, council of state, and leg- 
islative chamber, and which lengthened the presidential 
term to ten years. A glowing proclamation was also 
addressed to the army. 

A portion of the Assembly on the next day endeavored to 
hold a session, but the deputies were arrested. Disturb- 
ances broke out in various parts of the capital and in the 
provinces, but were quickly suppressed. Sixty-six radical 
deputies were exiled as well as a number of monarchists. 
But Paris, as well as France in general, received the news 
of the coup d'etat with indifference or satisfaction. 



TRIUMPH OF REACTION IN EUROPE 11 



III 

TRIUMPH OP REACTION IN EUROPE 

Subjugation of Hungary. — The real ruler of Austria in 
December, 1848, was Prince Schwartzenberg, the head of the 
ministry. His political principles differed little from those 
of Metternich. He proposed to tolerate no reforms save 
such as should be extorted and to reduce all other ambitions 
in the empire to complete subjection to the Austrian Ger- 
mans. Austria in its medley of races and of debris of other 
states is the most heterogeneous power in Europe. By a 
playing off of race against race and utilizing each to over- 
throw some other, Schwartzenberg proposed to attain his 
ends. 

The Hungarians regarded the new emperor as a usurper, 
and hence must be reduced to subjection. Though fighting 
to preserve Magyar independence of Austria and to main- 
tain the concessions granted them by Ferdinand, they treated 
their subjects in their Transylvanian and Slavic provinces 
as oppressively as the Austrians had treated them. The 
Austrian general, Puchner, subdued Transylvania. "Win- 
dischgratz, with the main army, invaded western Hungary 
and captured Pesth. Dissensions speedily broke out 
between the orator Kossuth, the head of the committee of 
defence, and General Gorgei, commander of the army. 
Kossuth removed Gorgei and appointed a Pole, the incapa- 
ble Dembinski, to the chief command. The Austrians 
won a series of successes, but Schwartzenberg alienated the 
Slavs, who offered to unite with their hereditary foes, but 
the Hungarians rejected their overtures. Gorgei was re- 
stored to his command and he and Bern swept the invaders 
from the country, leaving only a few fortresses in their 
hands. The Hungarian Diet declared that the house of 
Hapsburg had forfeited its rights to the throne and that 
Hungary was henceforth an independent state. Austria 
had been thoroughly defeated. The only resource left her 
was to entreat the willing intervention of the Tsar. 

Eighty thousand Eussians entered from the north while, 



12 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848-1849. 

equally overwhelming forces marched from the south and 
east. The Hungarians, though constantly defeated, fought 
heroically against hopeless odds. General Klapka made a 
magnificent defence at Komorn. The last battle was fought 
at Temesvar on August 10, 1849. Three days later Gorgei, 
to whom Kossuth had resigned the dictatorship, surrendered 
with all his forces to the Russians at Villagos. 

Exasperated by the consciousness that they had been 
rescued from defeat only by the intervention of Russia, the 
Austrians inflicted terrible atrocities upon the vanquished. 
Bern, Kossuth and other leaders with about 5000 Hunga- 
rians escaped to Turkey, where they found generous protec- 
tion. The Sultan, although threatened with war by Russia 
and Austria, refused to surrender the refugees. Hungary 
was crushed. Its political existence, for a time at least, 
seemed annihilated. 

Return to Absolutism in Austria. — A Constitutional As- 
sembly had met on July 22, 1848. In the polyglot body 
eight nationalities were represented. It was a burning 
question as to which language should be declared official. 
The deputies sat like enemies in as many hostile groups. 
Every theory found fierce expression. Order and even 
decency of debate were impossible. Nevertheless at their 
request the emperor returned to the capital. In a street 
riot Latour, the minister of war, was stripped naked and 
hanged to a lamp-post. The timorous emperor fled to 
Olmiitz, thinking he would find his most trusty protectors 
among the Slavs. But he left a manifesto behind, wherein 
he declared that he would take such measures as he thought 
best to repress anarchy and preserve liberty. An imperial 
rescript suspended the sessions of the Assembly, although 
authorizing them to meet some weeks later at the Moravian 
town of Kremsier. Only a meagre fraction availed them- 
selves of the permission. Meanwhile Schwartzenberg was 
appointed to the Cabinet, inasmuch as he knew " how to put 
down revolutions." Yet the ministry made a general 
declaration in favor of constitutional liberty. Their most 
difficult task was to find an equilibrium between the various 
Austrian states and to regulate the relations of the whole 
with Germany, of which the Austrian Empire constituted 
a part. Yet by March 4, 1849, an anomalous and imprac- 
ticable constitution had been devised. In the universal dis- 
content it was never put into execution. So Schwartzenberg 



A.D. 1848-1852.] TRIUMPH OF REACTION IN EUROPE 13 

could well declare that it was only " a basis on which to 
reestablish the authority of the throne." On January 1, 
1852, this figment of a charter was definitely suppressed. 
Nothing had been gained except a slight improvement in 
the condition of the peasants. 

Defeat and Abdication of Charles Albert. — The king of 
Piedmont had staked his crown upon the issue of war. He 
dreamed of a reunited Italy under the leadership of his 
house. But provincial jealousies chilled enthusiasm and 
hampered unity of action. Each insurgent state concerned 
itself with its own interests and failed to realize that vic- 
tory was possible only through concerted effort. The king 
was a royalist, suspicious of republicanism and of any 
popular movement. He even disdained the volunteers who 
were ready to flock to his standard. Nevertheless many 
of those volunteer bands were to show surprising military 
qualities when pitted against the veterans of the enemy. 
Radetzki was one of the few able generals whom Austria 
has produced. Though over eighty years of age, he was 
a most formidable antagonist. 

On June 24, 1848, a day of intense heat, the decisive 
battle was fought at Custozza. The defeated Piedmontese 
withdrew to Milan where bitter quarrels broke out between 
them and the Milanese. The king surrendered the city and 
afterwards signed an armistice, agreeing to take no farther 
part in the war. He had hitherto refused the conditional 
assistance of the French. Now, when he implored it with- 
out conditions, it was too late. 

Custozza had really decided the fate of Italy. Her chief 
soldier withdrawn from the conflict, the submission of the 
peninsula to the old system was henceforth only a question 
of time. But the patriots held out with surprising tenacity 
and with even increasing vigor. Both at Florence and 
Borne democratic republics were proclaimed and consti- 
tutional assemblies convoked. A new wave of resolution 
swept over the land. But the political question had 
become complicated with the ecclesiastical question. Car- 
dinal Antonelli asked for the interference of the four 
Catholic Powers, Austria, France, Spain and Naples, in 
behalf of the Pope. Austria was ready to act, but Louis 
Napoleon despatched 7000 men to Rome, though the object 
of the expedition was not at first clear. Ferdinand of 
Naples had reduced Sicily and was trampling on his prom- 



14 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848-1849. 

ises of reform. Bombardment of his Sicilian cities had 
given him the nickname of "King Bomba," which the sub- 
sequent atrocities of his reign were to render odious. 

In Piedmont the vociferous populace and the parliament 
demanded that Charles Albert should again attack Austria, 
inasmuch as she was apparently the only foreign state 
which the Italian cause had to dread. The king yielded. 
But he counted on no assistance from Rome or Florence and 
he knew that his own army was disinclined to the war. 
He entered upon the campaign rather as a martyr than as a 
soldier. It was, and it could be, only disastrous. Despite 
the heroism of his troops, he met a crushing defeat at 
Novara. On the evening after the battle the unhappy 
sovereign abdicated the throne in favor of his son, Victor 
Emmanuel. 

The heart of revolution was now at Rome. Mazzini, like 
a modern Rienzi, and the impetuous Garibaldi inflamed the 
resolution of the people not to submit. But it was the 
French under General Oudinot and not the Austrians who 
attacked and then invested the city. After a siege, lasting 
twenty-nine days, despite prodigies of valor on the part of 
the besieged, the capital was taken and the Roman repub- 
lic overthrown by the soldiers of republican France (June 
29, 1849). 

The catastrophe of Novara and the fall of Rome could not 
shake the courage of Venice. Nowhere was the Austrian 
rule more abhorred, yet nowhere were fewer crimes and 
excesses committed in the effort to shake it off. Her re- 
sistance lasted seventeen months. During 146 days she 
experienced all the horrors of siege and bombardment. She 
succumbed only to the exhaustion caused by famine and 
cholera. To Venice and to her illustrious dictator, Manin, 
attaches purer glory than to any other Italian state or 
leader in the agony of the struggle. On August 28, 1849, 
the triumphant Austrian flag floated once more over the 
Piazza of Saint Mark. And the former rulers and the old 
ways were restored throughout Italy. 

Conservatism of Pius IX. — On his accession he had 
shown sympathy with constitutional liberty. But he 
dreaded the excesses of the democracy. Desirous of re- 
form, he wished it to come gently and gradually. The 
frenzied passion of Mazzini appalled him even more than 
did the iron rule of Radetzki. Though a temporal prince, 



A.D. 1848-1850.] TRIUMPH OF REACTION IN EUROPE 1$ 

he shrank from military action because head of the church. 
So he refused to yield to popular clamor and declare war 
against Austria. But in September, 1848, he called Count 
Rossi to preside over the papal Cabinet, and thus indicated 
his fixed purpose to pursue a policy of moderate liberalism. 

There was at that time safety for no man in Rome unless 
an extremist. Two months later the capable and patriotic 
minister was stabbed by an anarchist on the very day when 
he was to open the session of the Chambers with a speech, 
promising to abolish the rule of the cardinals, to institute a 
lay government and to insist upon the emancipation and 
unification of Italy. A radical mob attacked the papal 
palace. The Pope in disguise escaped to Gaeta. When 
the Roman republic was proclaimed his temporal power was 
abolished. Not till 1850 did he return to his capital. No 
longer did he manifest any inclination toward reform. No 
triumph of reaction anywhere was more to be deplored than 
that which it had gained over the mind of the sovereign 
pontiff. 

Dissolution of the General Assembly at Frankfort. — 
Despite the patriotism and learning of its members, it is a 
melancholy fact that the Assembly was doomed to failure 
from the start. It had been elected to draw up a constitu- 
tion for all Germany, but the degree of its authority was 
a disputed point and it possessed no means of enforcing its 
decrees. It could only discuss and recommend. There was 
not in Germany a race problem as in Austria, and on the 
part of the German peoples there was a common desire for 
union. But the country was still too torn by violent and 
determined factions and too distracted by the selfish aims 
of the different states to secure common and voluntary ac- 
ceptance of the salutary measures which might be proposed. 
Furthermore the deputies were not practical men but theo- 
rists without tact or political experience. 

For a time however its measures commanded respect. 
Thus, when it decided to replace the Diet by a central 
executive and elected Archduke John of Austria as admin- 
istrator of Germany, the archduke accepted the office and 
the Diet resigned its authority into his hands. But when 
the troops of the confederation were ordered to swear fidelity 
to this administrator, Austria and Prussia ignored the order, 
and it was obeyed only in the smaller states. Fickleness in 
dealing with the troubles in Schleswig-Holstein weakened 



16 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1849. 

its influence. Days were wasted in sterile debates on trivial 
matters. 

At the same time, at Berlin, the Prussian national 
Assembly was holding stormy and fruitless sessions and the 
city itself was for months in a condition little better than 
anarchy. Tired of oratory and street turmoil, the Prus- 
sians were not displeased when royal decrees placed their 
capital under martial law and dissolved their Assembly. 
This failure of the Prussian Assembly at Berlin had an 
injurious effect upon the General Assembly at Frankfort. 

Nevertheless, it patched together a constitution for the 
whole empire and elected as emperor Frederick William 
IV the king of Prussia. The constitution was at once 
rejected by Austria, Bavaria, Saxony and Hanover, and 
Frederick William in a guarded manner declined the crown. 
The Assembly daily dwindled away until less than a hun- 
dred delegates remained. It was removed to Stuttgart on 
May 30, 1849, and was finally dispersed by the police. 
Nothing had been gained. All things continued as they 
were before. 



THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 17 



IV 

THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 

The Plebiscites of 1851 and 1852. —A French plebiscite 
is an expression by universal suffrage wherein only " yes " 
or " no " is answered to a question submitted for decision. 
The constitution proposed December, 1851, was accepted 
and the presidential power for ten years conferred on Louis 
Napoleon by a plebiscite of 7,437,216 "yes" and 640,737 
"no." 

The decennial presidency heralded the empire. A year 
afterwards the Senate asked for a plebiscite on the propo- 
sition that the empire should be restored in the person of 
Louis Napoleon and of his descendants. The affirmative 
vote was 8,157,752, the negative 254,501. So the empire 
was solemnly proclaimed on December 2, 1852, the anni- 
versary of the coronation of the first Napoleon. The 
crowned president was speedily recognized as Napoleon 
III by all the courts of Europe. In the following January 
he married a Spanish lady of Scottish ancestry, Eugenie de 
Montijo, Countess of Teba. 

Worn out by the turmoils of the preceding years, indig- 
nant at the secondary role she had filled in Europe since 
1815, France desired a strong government which would 
ensure tranquillity at home, and hence restore credit and 
develop material prosperity while at the same time making 
her respected abroad. There can be no doubt that the vast 
majority of the people were content to leave in the hands 
of the new " emperor of the French " a power hardly in- 
ferior to that exercised by a sultan or shah. The constitu- 
tion centralized all authority in the person of its elected 
chief. He alone could command the army, direct public 
policy, decide upon war, and conclude peace. The min- 
isters, appointed by him, were responsible only to him. 
They were rather his secretaries or functionaries than a 
cabinet. The legislative body, elected for six years, voted 
upon the taxes and the laws submitted to it by the Council 



18 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1853-1856. 

of State, but could of its own initiative propose nothing. 
The Senate consisted of 150 members, who were appointed 
for life by the emperor. It revised the laws voted by the 
legislative body and could accept or reject them as it 
deemed best. The Council of State was likewise named by 
the sovereign. 

The Crimean War (1853-1856). — A famous apothegm of 
Napoleon III, "The empire is peace," was to be refuted by 
events in Eastern Europe. Since the days of Francis I and 
Souleiman the Magnificent, France had been the traditional 
ally of the Ottoman Empire. Sometimes, as under Napo- 
leon I, such relations had been interrupted, but the senti- 
ment none the less existed. Furthermore, France was 
recognized by the Ottomans as the protectress of Latin 
Christians in the East. So, when troubles broke out in 
1853 between Russia and Turkey, — nominally over a monk- 
ish question as to the guardianship of certain holy places 
in Jerusalem and as to the claim of the Tsar to exercise 
protection over the Orthodox Greek subjects of the Sultan, 
— Napoleon found a felicitous occasion to draw the sword. 

Great Britain was above all other states interested in the 
maintenance of the Ottoman Empire. The sovereign of 
the French, though officially recognized, was everywhere 
regarded as an imperial parvenu. An alliance between 
him and Queen Victoria, granddaughter of George III, — 
the only sovereign in Europe who had persistently refused 
to acknowledge Napoleon I as emperor, — - would dazzle the 
French and add a peculiar splendor to his crown. His 
overtures were well received. When the Ottoman fleet in 
the bay of Sinope was destroyed by the Russians (Novem- 
ber 30, 1853), the French and British squadrons entered 
the Black Sea. A few months later, France and Great 
Britain signed a treaty with Turkey and formed an offen- 
sive and defensive alliance with each other. 

Prussia though inactive sympathized with Russia. 
Austria hesitated, remembering that her endangered polit- 
ical existence had been preserved by Russia in 1849, and 
yet not unwilling that the overshadowing Muscovite Em- 
pire should receive a check. Without allying herself with 
the Western Powers, she demanded that the Russians 
should evacuate the Danubian principalities which they 
had occupied. 

Cronstadt in the Baltic was- the key of St. Petersburg. 



A.D. 1853-1856.] THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 19 

Failing in attack upon this fortress, which the British 
admiral in command, Sir Charles Napier, declared was im- 
pregnable, the allies resolved to concentrate their efforts in 
an invasion of Russia from the south. Odessa had been 
successfully bombarded in April. 

A French army under Marshal St. Arnaud and an Eng- 
lish army under Lord Raglan landed at Gallipoli on the 
Dardanelles. The Russians, who were furthermore threat- 
ened on the west by the Austrians, evacuated the princi- 
palities and recrossed the Pruth. Austria at once occupied 
the abandoned provinces, promising to restore them to the 
Sultan on the conclusion of peace. 

It was decided to attack Sebastopol, the great arsenal of 
Russia in the Crimea and the military centre from which 
she threatened the south. The city was at that time utterly 
unprepared to withstand a siege. On September 24 a 
fleet of 500 ships disembarked 30,000 French, 27,000 Brit- 
ish, and 7000 Turks at Eupatoria, thirty miles to the north. 

The operations against the beleaguered city went on 
under various forms for 351 days. The Russian generals, 
Mentshikoff, Todleben and Korniloff, strengthened the 
defences and resisted with Russian obstinacy. The battles 
of Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman were favorable on the 
whole to the allies. Meanwhile St. Arnaud died and was 
succeeded by Marshal Canrobert, who, exhausted, gave way 
to General Pelissier. Lord Raglan died and was replaced 
by General James Simpson. The soldiers, especially the 
British, suffered horribly in a winter of unusual vigor. In 
a single storm twenty-one transports were wrecked. Pied- 
mont, glad to make its existence remembered, sent to the 
assistance of the allies a little army of 18,000 well-equipped 
men. Together with the French they won the battle of 
Tchernaya (August 16), the decisive action of the campaign. 
By September 8 everything was ready for the final assault. 
The two chief defences of the city were the Malakoff and 
the Great Redan. The French successfully stormed the 
former, but the British, despite their desperate courage, 
were unable to capture the latter. However, the Malakoff 
taken, further resistance was useless, and the Russian army 
withdrew. 

In Asia the Russian arms had been successful and they 
had captured the stronghold of Kars, which commanded the 
eastern approaches to Asia Minor. 



20 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1855-1859. 

Sebastopol was in the hands of the conquerors. To make 
themselves masters of it, the allies had sacrificed the lives 
of more than 100,000 of their troops. Russia's losses were 
even greater. Nevertheless the utmost efforts of four 
Powers, assisted by the military interference of Austria, 
had only sufficed to reduce a fortress on the extreme 
southern verge of her empire. Her frontier had been 
touched but she had not been really invaded. The Tsar 
Nicholas I had died on March 2, 1855, and been succeeded 
by the milder and less persistent Alexander II. 

The treaty was signed at Paris on March 30, 1856. It 
neutralized the Black Sea, guaranteed liberty of navigation 
in the Danube, from which it removed Russia by a slight 
rectification of her western frontier, and abolished the 
protectorate of Russia over the Danubian provinces and 
over her coreligionists in Turkey. Turkey was admitted 
to the international concert of states, and the Hatti Sherif 
of the Sultan, promising religious privileges to his non- 
Mussulman subjects, was incorporated in the treaty as a 
contract between him and Europe. 

However gravely accepted and proclaimed, most of these 
conditions could be regarded only in the light of temporary 
accommodation. The really important achievement of the 
congress was its enunciation of the four following princi- 
ples in international law: privateering is abolished; the 
neutral flag covers an enemy's goods, except contraband of 
war; neutral goods, except contraband of war, are exempt 
from capture even under an enemy's flag; a blockade to be 
respected must be effectual. 

It was a splendid triumph for the French emperor and 
for France when the congress assembled at Paris to deter- 
mine the conditions of peace. In the eyes of his people 
Napoleon III appeared to be the arbiter of the continent. 
The distant campaign had been attended with frightful 
loss in money and men, but it was forgotten in such glory 
as had not attended the French arms since the first Napo- 
leon invaded Russia. 

War with Austria (1859). — Piedmont, the only inde- 
pendent and constitutional Italian state, had won the 
gratitude of France and of Great Britain by her coopera- 
tion in the Crimean War. Her prime minister, Count 
Cavour, had taken part in the Congress of Paris and had 
dexterously improved the occasion to denounce the mis- 



A.D. 1859.] THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 21 

government of central and southern Italy and to arraign 
the Austrian occupation of Lombardy and Venice. Thereby 
he thrust the Italian question to the forefront of Europe. 
In 1858 he made a secret treaty with Napoleon, the object 
of which was the expulsion of Austria from the peninsula, 
and in January, 1859, cemented the relations of France and 
Piedmont by the marriage of Prince Napoleon, cousin of 
the emperor, to the Princess Clotilda, daughter of Victor 
Emmanuel. 

While all Europe was considering a proposition from 
the British court for general disarmament, Austria com- 
mitted a political blunder disastrous to herself. She 
addressed a note to the Piedmontese court, demanding the 
disarmament of their troops in the space of three days. 
Cavour gave a diplomatic reply, though gross provocation 
had come from Austria. Six days later she crossed the 
Ticino, this act being equivalent to a declaration of war 
against not only Piedmont but France. Napoleon wished 
to win for himself some of the military laurels his generals 
had gained in the Crimea, and took command in person. 
In his progress southward through France he was hailed 
with tremendous enthusiasm by the citizens, who rejoiced 
that their armies were again to fight the battles of Italian 
liberty. 

The campaign was short but eventful. A main factor in 
determining the result was the proverbial slowness and in- 
decision of the Austrian generals. General Forey with 
inferior forces defeated the enemy at Montebello (May 
20). Marshal MacMahon gained a battle at Magenta 
(June 2), where the Austrians lost 20,000 killed and 
wounded and 7000 prisoners. The victors entered Milan 
amid a delirium of joy. Abandoning Lombardy, the Aus- 
trians concentrated 160,000 troops for a decisive action at 
Solferino. The French and Piedmontese forces were almost 
as numerous. The two emperors were in command. After 
a ten hours' battle the Austrians were compelled to retreat, 
leaving 30,000 men upon the field (June 24). Napoleon 
slept that night in the chamber which his imperial antago- 
nist had occupied in the morning. 

Napoleon had declared that he would free Italy from the 
Alps to the Adriatic. But his position was one of extreme 
peril. The famous quadrilateral was still held by the 
enemy. Numerous reinforcements were pouring into the 



22 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1852-1867. 

Austrian camp. Prussia and the southwestern German 
states, dismayed at the progress of revolutionary ideas and 
unwilling to see France too victorious, showed a disposition 
to take part in the war. A proposition for an interview 
was made to Francis Joseph, and at Villafranca the two 
sovereigns signed the preliminaries of peace, afterwards 
confirmed by the treaty of Zurich. Lombardy was annexed 
to Piedmont. The sovereigns of Tuscany and Modena were 
to return to their states, but no foreign armies were to aid 
them in securing repossession. An Italian federation was 
to be formed under the presidency of the Pope. Piedmont 
skilfully kept herself free from entangling promises as to 
the future of Italy. Savoy and Nice, after a plebiscite of 
their inhabitants expressing the desire therefor, were 
annexed to France. 

Material Progress (1852-1867). — These years are marked 
by brilliant prosperity. Under a strong and presumably 
stable government the people were no longer disturbed 
by fear of revolution and devoted themselves with ardor 
to every branch of activity. Whoever wished could obtain 
work at a fair remuneration, and capital found lucrative 
avenues everywhere open. Private and public enterprise 
covered France with a network of railroads. Highways 
were laid out and bridges constructed in all directions. 
Easier and cheaper means of communication were both a 
cause and result of wonderful development in manufactures 
and trade. Docks were constructed and harbors dug or 
enlarged. Great loan companies assisted labor and savings- 
banks sprang up to receive its earnings. Numerous cham- 
bers of commerce and agriculture were founded. Duties 
on grain were abolished. Sagacious commercial treaties 
with Great Britain, Italy, Belgium and other states favored 
the export of French products and introduced foreign 
products at cheaper rates. In thirteen years the exports 
and imports trebled in value. 

Hospitals were multiplied. Convalescent homes, as at 
Vincennes, Vesinet, and Longchene, orphanages, asylums 
and all conceivable institutions of beneficence and philan- 
thropy were established. Here governmental and private 
generosity rivalled each other. Popular education devel- 
oped as never before in France. The pupils increased by 
1,000,000 in fifteen years. Special attention was paid to 
professional, industrial and technical schools. The law 



a.d. 1867.] THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 23 

of April 10, 1867, specifically provided for the education 
of girls. An immense number of school libraries were 
founded. Instruction seemed an antidote for crime. " Ac- 
cording as the schools filled up the prisons emptied." 

Paris, congested in narrow and crooked streets, was re- 
built on a magnificent scale by Baron Haussmann, prefect 
of the Seine. Even the Louvre, hitherto unfinished, was 
completed. Lyons and Marseilles were almost transformed. 
The same thing went on upon a proportional scale in the 
other cities and towns. Public gardens and parks were 
created for the diversion and health of the people. Sani- 
tary measures diminished the death-rate. A sense of well- 
being and comfort pervaded the country. 

The Universal Exposition of 1867. —This was the visible 
expression of all the material prosperity under the empire. 
It may be called also the culmination of its glory. 

The Champ de Mars was converted into a city of exhibi- 
tion, or a world bazaar. In the centre rose an enormous 
palace in iron and glass, enclosing an area of thirty-six 
acres, packed in bewildering fashion with whatever was 
most valuable and rare. This palace was over 1600 feet 
long and almost 1300 in width. It was surrounded by 
gardens adorned with works of art and edifices represent- 
ing the architecture, manner of life and occupations of all 
nations. From all over the globe manufacturers, inventors, 
agriculturists, artists, merchants flocked to Paris to there 
exhibit and behold all the achievements of peace and to vie 
with one another in the display of their various products. 
It was a tournament of all mankind, where international 
juries awarded prizes for the best things which the human 
hand and brain had done. No equal international exhibi- 
tion had ever been held. It surpassed every other in the 
number, variety and excellence of the articles displayed, 
and these articles represented every department of human 
science and activity. There were 51,819 exhibitors, and 
it was visited daily during six months by over 70,000 per- 
sons. 

Inevitably, because held in France and other nations 
were more or less remote, the French exhibit was superior 
to the rest. The French might take a legitimate pride, 
not only in the fact that the marvellous exhibition was 
devised by them, but in the preeminent splendor of their 
share in the exhibit. Napoleon and France occupied 



24 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1862-1867. 

the proud position of hosts. The most enlightened for- 
eigners by tens and hundreds of thousands thronged their 
capital as guests. The emperors of Russia and Austria, 
the queen of Great Britain, the kings of Italy, Prussia, 
Belgium, Sweden and Denmark, the sultan of the Ottoman 
Empire, and numerous other rulers of civilized or barbarous 
states by their presence added to the dignity and enhanced 
the magnificence of the occasion. Paris for half a year 
was decked as in a perpetual fete. 

Humiliations of the Empire. — Two were of such a nature 
as to be peculiarly galling to a sensitive people. The first 
and most important was administered by the United States. 
In 1862 France, Great Britain and Spain sent a joint mili- 
tary expedition to Mexico to enforce the payment of certain 
claims. When their ostensible object was attained Great 
Britain and Spain withdrew. The United States were then 
engaged in a civil war, which Napoleon believed would end 
in the dissolution of the Union. Therefore he judged the 
occasion favorable to set up a Latin empire, which should 
counterpoise any Anglo-Saxon republics in the Western world. 
The Archduke Maximilian, brother of the emperor of Aus- 
tria, consented to accept the crown to be wrung for him 
from Mexico, Napoleon promising to maintain an army of 
25,000 French soldiers for the protection of the new em- 
peror. The American government had refused to recognize 
any authority in Mexico except that of the dispossessed 
president, Juarez, but, its hands tied by the civil war, was 
unable to do more. After the confederacy was overthrown, 
it notified Napoleon that his soldiers must be withdrawn. 
The French emperor judged it expedient to comply, though 
in so doing he violated his promise to Maximilian and igno- 
miniously left him to destruction. Meanwhile Carlotta, 
the devoted wife of Maximilian, journeyed from court to 
court in Europe, entreating assistance for her husband and 
denouncing the desertion of him by Napoleon. Successive 
disappointments overthrew her reason. The Mexican Em- 
pire was destroyed by Juarez, and Maximilian was finally 
captured and shot as a usurper (June 19, 1867). The news 
of the terrible disaster reached Europe while Paris was in the 
full tide of the Universal Exposition and cast a gloom upon 
the gayety and brilliancy of the occasion. The French 
Empire never recovered from the shock of this Mexican 
failure. 



A.D. 186&-1870.] THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 25 

The second humiliation was the work of Count von Bis- 
marck, president of the Prussian Cabinet. In the Prusso- 
Austrian war of 1866 it was of supreme importance to the 
Prussians to prevent the interference of France whose sym- 
pathies lay with Austria. So Bismarck gave Napoleon to 
understand that in case Prussia was victorious and increased 
her territory, France should receive an equivalent by the 
annexation of Luxemburg on her northeastern frontier. 
The war ended in the aggrandizement of Prussia. There- 
upon Napoleon demanded the cession of Luxemburg, but 
Bismarck now informed him that the Germans were opposed 
to any such arrangement, and that hence it was impossible. 
Napoleon had thus been ridiculously outwitted in the face 
of all Europe. But France was utterly unprepared for war 
and could only submit to the blow dealt her own and her 
emperor's prestige. 

The third humiliation of the empire was inflicted upon it 
by the people in the plebiscite of May 8, 1870. By vari- 
ous modifications, introduced voluntarily by the sovereign, 
the government had passed from the absolute autocracy of 
1852 to the constitutional or parliamentary monarchy of 
1870. Political exiles had been amnestied and made eligible 
to office. Gradually concessions, although not extorted, 
had been granted until the country enjoyed freedom of the 
press, of parliamentary criticism and debate, responsibility 
of the ministers to the Chamber, and a constitution revised 
in a liberal sense. By the latter, granted April 20, 1870, 
the legislative power was shared by the Senate and the 
Chamber, while all power to further change the constitu- 
tion was intrusted to the people. Upon the advice of his 
minister, M. Rouher, the emperor asked a plebiscite con- 
cerning the reforms successively introduced and the revised 
constitution. An affirmative vote was furthermore under- 
stood to mean attachment to the reigning dynasty. Though 
there were only 1,500,000 nays to over 7,000,000 yeas, the 
negative vote was surprisingly large and also alarming in 
what it represented. While the rural districts were to all 
intents unanimous, an immense dissatisfaction with the 
state of things was revealed by the vote of Paris, the larger 
cities, and the army. Moreover, many of its adherents 
were indignant at the recent course of the government in 
despatching French troops to put down Garibaldi and in 
declaring its intention to maintain by arms the temporal 



26 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1870-1871. 

power of the Pope. The plebiscite, despite the immense 
majority of 5,500,000, was considered a rebuff. 

The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). — An increasing 
exasperation of the French against the Prussians and a 
growing animosity between the two states had existed ever 
since the Prusso-Austrian war. An ultimate conflict was 
inevitable. Events concurred to hasten the catastrophe. 

The Spaniards, who had expelled their Bourbon dynasty, 
offered the Spanish crown to Prince Leopold of Hohen- 
zollern, a near kinsman of William I, king of Prussia. 
All France was on fire with excitement. Nor was the agi- 
tation allayed when it was heard that the prince had de- 
clined the offer. The foreign minister, the Duke de 
Gramont, the Empress Eugenie, the Chamber and the 
populace of Paris did their utmost to fan the flames. 
Napoleon and the calmer heads, like Thiers, were averse 
to war. But the emperor, exhausted by the ravages of an 
incurable malady, was no longer the cool, firm man who 
had executed the coup d'etat or commanded at Solferino. 
The Duke de Gramont asserted, " We are ready, more than 
ready," and the prime minister, Ollivier, announced, "We 
accept the responsibility with a light heart!" War was 
declared by France on July 15, 1870. Never was a war a 
more rapid succession of disasters. 

Prussia, under William I, Von Moltke, minister of war, 
and Von Bismarck had for years been steadily preparing 
for the struggle which she knew was to come. No nation 
was ever more terribly ready. Not a shoe-latchet was 
wanting to the troops. Treaties assured her the active 
support of all Germany. Even the plans of campaign were 
all matured. France had not an ally on whom to depend. 
Her regiments were incomplete, ill provisioned and ill 
armed. Yet, intoxicated with rage and overweening confi- 
dence in herself, she threw herself into the conflict as a 
gambler risks his all upon a throw. 

The French armies were mobilized with distressing slow- 
ness. Twenty days after the declaration of war the hostile 
forces had invaded France. The crown prince of Prussia 
defeated General Douay at Weissenburg (August 4), and, 
two days later, with 100,000 men destroyed an army of 
45,000 men under Marshal MacMahon at Worth. Then, 
as all through the war, the French fought with desperate 
courage and determination. But heroism without plan and 



a.d. 1870.] THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 27 

with inferior arms was of no avail against equal heroism 
attended by superior numbers and skill. The battle of 
Worth was decisive of the campaign. By the victory the 
Prusso-German forces projected into France like a mighty 
wedge, and afterwards the French main armies, pressed to 
the right and left, could never unite. Moreover, Austria 
and Italy, who might have assisted France, were disin- 
clined to join their fortunes to a lost cause. Skilful 
manoeuvres and the victories of Forbach and Gravelotte 
succeeded in hemming the commander-in-chief, Marshal 
Bazaine, with 173,000 men, inside the fortifications of 
Metz. There he was at once besieged by the crown prince 
of Saxony. 

Sedan. — A forlorn hope remained for the deliverance 
of Bazaine. Marshal MacMahon, the ablest general of 
France, with 130,000 troops marched to his relief. But he 
was hampered by the presence of the emperor, who had 
left the Empress Eugenie as regent, and by the constant 
interference of the French minister of war, Count Palikao. 
While in the valley of Sedan his army was surrounded by 
250,000 Germans, who, by forced marches and in perfect 
obedience to concerted plans, had closed in upon them. 
Ketreat or advance was impossible. After three days of 
hopeless fight and terrible loss, the French surrendered, 
Napoleon himself offering his sword to King William. 
Together with the emperor 104,000 men had been taken 
prisoners. 

Fall of the Empire (September 4, 1870). — The news of 
the surrender was received at Paris with frenzy. The mob 
took control, pronounced the deposition of the emperor and 
proclaimed the republic. On the pillars of the Palace 
Bourbon they chalked the names of those whom they 
wished to direct affairs and who, without further election, 
assumed authority as the Government of National Defence. 
General Trochu was made President, Jules Favre, minister 
of foreign affairs, Gambetta, minister of the interior, 
Jules Simon, minister of public instruction, and General 
Le Flo, minister of war. Their attempts to place the 
responsibility for the war upon Napoleon were coldly re- 
ceived by the Germans, who furthermore showed unwill- 
ingness to treat with an irresponsible government. M. 
Thiers was sent to London, St. Petersburg, Vienna and 
Florence to beg assistance, but everywhere in vain. Jules 



28 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1870-1871. 

Favre declared that France would not yield an inch of her 
soil, and the Germans had resolved to consider no proposi- 
tions of peace that did not include the acquisition of Alsace 
and Lorraine. 

Surrender of Metz (October 27). — Completely shut in, 
Marshal Bazaine received only such news of the condition 
of France as the enemy judged expedient. Cut off from all 
hope of rescue, his cavalry and artillery horses killed for 
food, his provisions exhausted, he surrendered. His army 
of 173,000 men was sent to Germany to share the captivity 
of the prisoners of Sedan. A capitulation on such an 
enormous scale was unexampled. No event in the war has 
been more bitterly criticised and its necessity more angrily 
disputed. After the cessation of hostilities Bazaine was 
tried by a court-martial and condemned to death. 

In spite of obstinate resistance, Toul (September 23), 
Strasburg (September 28), Verdun (November 8), and all 
the fortified places of northwestern France, except Belfort, 
were one after the other forced to capitulate. 

Siege and Surrender of Paris (January 28, 1871). — The 
siege of Paris began on September 19. Gambetta escaped 
in a balloon (passing over the German lines), and reaching 
Toul became a virtual dictator. Infusing his own wild 
energy into the people of central and southern France, he 
induced them to prolong a hopeless struggle. Yet each 
day's added resistance could only increase the general suf- 
fering and force harsher terms upon France in the end. 
Meanwhile the enemy, leaving sufficient forces for the siege 
of Paris, deluged the country on the west and south. The 
untrained levies under Generals Aurelle de Paladines and 
Bourbaki could only delay but not prevent their advance. 

Paris held out for 142 days. The city, esteemed frivolous, 
showed such sternness and tenacity in defence as no other 
great capital has ever equalled. Each desperate sortie drew 
the iron bands tighter around her, and she yielded at last, 
not to the Germans but to famine. The German Empire 
had been proclaimed in the Palace of Versailles ten days 
before. Even then Gambetta was unwilling to give up, and 
resigned his office only when he had been disavowed by the 
government of Paris. 

The Treaty of Frankfort. — In the hour of her extremest 
distress France turned to her one statesman, Thiers. He 
could not save her, but he might somewhat alleviate the 



a.d. 1871.] THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 29 

miseries of her fall. The National Assembly, elected by- 
German consent, met at Bordeaux. The Government of 
National Defence laid down its powers. Thiers was ap- 
pointed to form a ministry and negotiate terms of peace. 
With Count Bismarck he wrestled over each point in the 
Prussian demands. Hard though the terms imposed, they 
would have been still harder but for him. It was agreed 
that France should pay $1,000,000,000 indemnity in the 
space of three years, and that all Alsace except Belfort, 
and one-fifth of Lorraine including Metz should be annexed 
to Germany. The evacuation of territory was to take place 
proportionally as the indemnity was paid. 

This preliminary treaty was approved by the French 
Assembly on March 2 and formally ratified at Frankfort on 
May 10, 1871. 



30 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY 



GERMANY 
(1848-1871) 

Rivalry of Prussia and Austria. — Of the thirty-eight 
sovereignties which composed the German Confederation, 
Austria and Prussia were by far the most important. Both 
were disliked by the other German states, but Austria, al- 
though the larger and stronger, was dreaded less than Prus- 
sia. During the preceding 150 years they had gradually 
approached each other by an inverse process, the one by 
intermittent development and expansion, the other by 
intermittent decline, until they stood almost upon a par. 
Liberty had nothing to hope from the government of either. 
Nor could it be expected that either would advance the 
cause of German union except by making other and weaker 
states dependent upon itself. Prussia, because of her more 
restricted territory and smaller population, caused less 
anxiety to Europe than did Austria, who, because an ag- 
glomeration of races, never could rally the Germans to the 
cry of nationality. 

The problem what to do with Austria had disturbed the 
wordy National Assembly at Frankfort in 1848 and 1849. 
Some of the delegates proposed that she should remain a 
state apart, either abandoning her German provinces or 
retaining them, but in any case to be reckoned outside of 
Germany. Other delegates proposed that all the German 
states and all the Austrian provinces of whatever race 
should combine in one enormous empire, spanning Europe 
from the Baltic to the Adriatic, and that Austria should be 
its head. The first of these propositions may be called the 
Prussian, and the second proposition the Austrian plan. 
This crucial question received its solution only eighteen 
years afterwards, and meanwhile affected the whole current 
of German politics. 

Question of Schleswig-Holstein (1848-1855). — Schleswig 



A.D. 1848-1863.] GERMANY 31 

and Holstein are two duchies lying between Denmark and 
Germany. The inhabitants of the former were mainly, 
and of the latter exclusively, German. Both enjoyed a 
separate political existence, with their own customs and 
laws, although their sovereign was the king of Denmark. 
Frederick VII at his accession incorporated Schleswig with 
his Danish states. But the German Diet as formally in- 
corporated Schleswig with Germany and appointed Prussia 
by the sword to carry this action into effect. The Danes 
gained the advantage in battle. A protocol, signed at 
London in 1850 by Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, 
Sweden and Denmark, and another treaty in 1852, intro- 
duced diplomatic arrangements which decided little, con- 
tented no one, but contained the germ of future trouble. 

The king went on with his attempted Danification of the 
duchies. In 1855 he published a constitution wherein the 
same laws were applied indiscriminately to them and to all 
his other provinces. The duchies protested, Germany 
threatened to interfere, and Frederick granted certain con- 
cessions. The general irritation did not diminish. Rely- 
ing on the promise of Great Britain to protect the integrity 
of Danish territory and swept along by the enthusiasm of 
the Danes, the king persisted in measures that were both 
impolitic and unjust. In 1863 by a manifesto he assimi- 
lated Schleswig to his other possessions and declared that 
Holstein should pay certain taxes, which had not been voted 
by her Estates. After fruitless negotiations the German 
Diet determined on armed intervention and occupied Hol- 
stein by Saxon and Hanoverian troops (December, 1863). 
The Danish forces withdrew without resistance into Schles- 
wig. Thus far the contention had been one of race. The 
Danes had determined to blot out the German character of 
the duchies, which the inhabitants of those duchies were as 
determined to retain. 

King "William I and Otto von Bismarck. — On January 
2, 1861, William I ascended the Prussian throne. His 
brother, Frederick William IV, suffering from insanity, he 
had acted as regent during the preceding two years. He 
was a man of strong character and decided opinions, fully 
persuaded of the divine right of kings. His despotic sen- 
timents often brought him into collision with the people, 
and he was by no means popular. A soldier from his birth, 
he believed the welfare of Prussia was bound up in the army. 



32 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1861-1864. 

Though otherwise evincing no extraordinary talents, he 
showed remarkable sagacity in the choice of men for im- 
portant positions. Then he honored them with his full 
confidence, and, absolute as he was, allowed them wide 
latitude in carrying out his ideas. In the autumn after his 
accession he appointed Otto von Bismarck Minister of 
Foreign Aifairs and President of the Cabinet. No other 
choice could have been equally felicitous. If the renown of 
the minister afterwards overshadowed that of the master, it 
was largely gained by the fidelity as well as the wonderful 
ability of his services. From 1862 to 1870 the biography 
of Bismarck is the history of Prussia; from 1870 to 1890 
his biography is the history of Germany. In an epoch- 
making age he stands without a peer among the statesmen 
of continental Europe. 

A conflict was pending in 1862 between the king and the 
Prussian parliament over the bill reorganizing the army. 
The scheme proposed more than doubled the numbers of its 
troops while vastly increasing their efficiency. But the 
people saw in the project only an additional weapon of 
despotism. The lower Chamber loaded the bill with 
amendments and finally rejected it altogether. Bismarck 
had no respect for popular votes or parliamentary majori- 
ties. Already he had declared that the great questions of 
the time were to be settled "by blood and iron." He ad- 
vised the king to prorogue the Chambers, silence the press, 
and reorganize the army as he pleased. His advice was 
followed. 

The military system of Prussia, which was to defeat 
Austria, crush France and reunite Germany, was the result. 
But it was founded none the less on a royal usurpation of 
legislative rights. 

Austro-Pnissian Occupation of Schleswig-Holstein (1863- 
1864). — The troubles in the duchies afforded Bismarck 
an admirable opportunity. First he strenuously persuaded 
Austria to join Prussia and interfere, regardless of the 
Diet and of the wishes of the other German states. After 
sending an ultimatum to Copenhagen, which was rejected, 
the Prussian and Austrian forces invaded Denmark, not 
as the armed agents of Germany or in behalf of the duchies, 
but solely on their own account. The little nation was 
helpless against their attack. Neither did she receive 
the promised aid of Great Britain. By the treaty of 



A.D. 1864^1866.] GERMANY 33 

Vienna (October 30, 1864) Christian IX was obliged to 
cede all the disputed territory to Prussia and Austria 
jointly. The odium of the conquest fell equally on the two 
Powers, but the gains were to be reaped only by Prussia. 
By the convention of Gastein — one of the most brilliant 
diplomatic triumphs Bismarck ever won — to her was as- 
signed Schleswig with the seaport of Kiel in Holstein. 
Austria was to retain Holstein, a distant acquisition, which 
could only be to her a source of weakness and a cause of 
future trouble. 

Seven Weeks' War between Prussia and Austria (1866). 
— Prussia was at last ready for the final struggle against 
her adversary. Her army was fully disciplined and 
equipped. Great Britain, France and Bussia endeavored 
to mediate and prevent the war, but to no purpose. Most 
of the German states sided with Austria. On June 15 
Prussia declared war against Hanover, Hesse and Saxony. 
On the 20th Italy, whose offensive and defensive alliance 
had been gained by the promise of Venetia, declared war 
against Austria and Bavaria. Meanwhile Prussia had 
500,000 men under arms. She struck with astounding 
rapidity, but Austria and her allies moved as in sleep or 
stupor. Within a week Hanover, Hesse and Saxony were 
subdued, their armies captured or destroyed and their 
kings in flight. Into Bohemia, whose passes were unde- 
fended, poured 280,000 men with 800 guns. Marshal 
Benedek had no more than 210,000 men and 762 guns of 
inferior calibre with which to oppose them. In two days' 
time he lost a sixth of his army and sent word to the Aus- 
trian emperor that his only hope was in peace. The reply 
was an order to give battle, and the order was obeyed. 

Sadowa (July 3, 1866). — Benedek chose a strong posi- 
tion at Sadowa in an amphitheatre of wooded hills in front 
of Koniggratz, the Elbe being in his rear. With the pre- 
cision of a machine his foes in three several armies under 
King William, Count von Moltke, the Minister of War, 
the Crown Prince, General von Boon, General Hiller, Prince 
Frederick Charles and other of the ablest commanders in 
Europe were marching upon him. Even Bismarck was 
there to rejoice in the ruin for which he had prepared the 
way and to conduct the negotiations after the already 
certain victory. 

The Prussians began their attack at three o'clock in the 



34 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1866-1871. 

morning. The Crown Prince of Prussia with his army was 
to reach his position on the extreme Austrian right ten 
hours later. The Austrians held their ground with un- 
flinching courage, but mere gallantry is a minor element in 
modern warfare. Even the fog fought for the Prussians 
and masked the movements of the Crown Prince until his 
army assailed and destroyed the Austrian right. Driven 
from their lines by the always mounting tide of the attack, 
the soldiers of Benedek at last gave way and in one enor- 
mous broken mass rushed toward the river. That day's 
fighting cost Austria 4190 killed, 11,900 wounded, 20,000 
prisoners and 160 cannon. Above all, it hurled her out of 
Germany and crowned Prussia, her hereditary foe, with 
the leadership over the Germans. 

It is common to ascribe the victory at Sadowa to the 
Prussian needle-gun, which, though carrying a shorter dis- 
tance, could be fired five times as fast as the Austrian 
cannon and with far deadlier effect. The superiority of 
this weapon however was but one among the many factors 
that ensured Prussian success. 

The road to Vienna was open. There was no army to 
oppose the advance of the invaders. After ineffectual at- 
tempts at negotiation, Austria implored the mediation of 
Napoleon to secure peace, thereby abandoning her as yet 
un conquered and unattacked allies, Bavaria, Baden, Wur- 
temberg, Hesse and other south German states. They 
were subdued with celerity. 

Meanwhile, Austrian dynastic pride was soothed by the 
victory of the Archduke Albert over the Italians at Custozza 
(June 24), an ill-omened field for Italy, and by the destruc- 
tion of the Italian navy at Lissa (July 20) by Admiral 
Tegetthoff. 

Hegemony of Prussia (1866-1871). — The conditions of 
peace were, as always, hard for the vanquished. Austria 
recognized her exclusion from Germany, abandoned her 
claims to Schleswig and Holstein, ceded Venetia to Italy, 
agreed to pay an indemnity of 20,000,000 thalers, and left 
Prussia free to organize Germany as she pleased. 

Prussia added to her territory Hanover, despite the pro- 
tests of Great Britain, the electorate of Hesse, Nassau, the 
free city of Prankfort, Schleswig-Holstein and certain 
smaller territories to facilitate her internal communica- 
tions. Upon the states of southern Germany, Bavaria, 



a.d. 1871.] GERMANY 35 

Wiirteinberg and Baden, she imposed treaties of offensive 
and defensive alliance, and was also guaranteed the com- 
mand of their armies in case of war. These treaties how- 
ever were to be kept profoundly secret. 

The most manifest and imposing monument of Sadowa 
was the North German Confederation, of which the king 
of Prussia was president. It comprised Prussia and in 
general all the states north of the river Main. Though a 
federal parliament, the Reichstag, was created, each state 
retained its own chambers and local laws. A federal coun- 
cil, wherein out of forty-three votes Prussia had seventeen, 
regulated federal relations. Even the reluctant southern 
kingdoms were shrewdly interested in the new order, being 
requested to send delegates who, together with the mem- 
bers of the Reichstag, should decide the customs-dues and 
the tariff regulations of all Germany. The North German 
Confederation was the sure prophecy of the speedy German 
unification under a German Empire. 

The colors of Prussia were black and white. The new 
national standard in its union of black, white and red pro- 
claimed her hegemony. 

Unification of Germany (1871). — It is a truism, but none 
the less true, that it was the Prussian schoolmaster who 
gained the battle of Sadowa. Success intensified rather 
than relaxed the efforts and ambitions of the mighty men 
who controlled the destinies of Prussia. Every energy was 
devoted to preparation for the next war, which, whoever 
the aggressor, all Europe foresaw would be with France. 
The Prussian generals, diplomats and statesmen formed a 
galaxy, rare in any age, and above them towered the king, 
Von Bismarck and Von Moltke. " Let us work fast, gen- 
tlemen," said Bismarck. "Let us put Germany in the 
saddle. She will know how to ride." In 1868 Von Moltke 
laid before the king his plan of campaign in case of the 
invasion of France. 

In a mad hour like an angry child France drew the sword. 
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, with the dethrone- 
ment of the Napoleonic dynasty, the captivity of 400,000 
French soldiers, and the humiliations of Sedan and Metz, 
was the result. To Prussia and to Germany it wrought 
realization of the enthusiastic dreams of Arndt and of the 
calmer projects of Frederick the Great, Von Stein and Bis- 
marck in the accomplishment of national unity. The blood, 



36 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1871. 

which all the German states shed together on the fields of 
France, cemented the bonds of race as nothing else could 
have done. The factious opposition of feudal traditions 
and local jealousies could not longer continue. The Reichs- 
tag in an address to the king of Prussia, presented on 
December 18, 1870, employed these words: "The North 
German parliament, in unison with the princes of Ger- 
many, approaches with the prayer that your Majesty will 
deign to consecrate the work of unification by accepting the 
imperial crown of Germany. The Teutonic crown on the 
head of your Majesty will inaugurate for the reestablished 
empire of the German nation an era of honor, of peace, of 
well-being and of liberty secured under the protection of 
the laws." 

The Palace of Versailles is the architectural masterpiece 
and favorite residence of Louis XIV, the arch-enemy of 
the Germans. More than half a century ago it was con- 
verted into an enormous historical picture-gallery and its 
walls were covered with countless splendid paintings rep- 
resenting all the French conquests and triumphs during 
hundreds of years. In the gorgeous throne-room of this 
palace, hung all around with the royal glories of its founder, 
the German Empire was proclaimed on January 18, 1871, 
and the king of Prussia accepted for himself and his de- 
scendants the imperial crown. No coronation at Frankfort 
or Berlin could have been so eloquent and so impressive. 
The shouts of the victorious assemblage, hailing a resur- 
rected and united Germany, announced a new era, and 
woke echoes in the neighboring room where Louis XIV 
had died. 



THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 37 



VI 

THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 
(1871-1898) 

The Commune (March 18-May 28, 1871). — A majority 
of the members of the National Assembly, though not vent- 
uring to overthrow the republic, inclined to a monarchical 
form of government. Therefore they were regarded with 
suspicion and even hated by a large section of the Parisian 
populace. The sufferings of the siege, indignation at the 
triumphal entry of the Germans and the exasperation of 
failure had wrought the lower classes to frenzy. It was 
easy for the so-called Central Committee, representing 
every radical and anarchistic notion and strong in the sup- 
port of the dregs of the people, to rouse the mob, unfurl 
the red flag, seize the city and all the fortifications except 
Mount Valerian and proclaim the Commune. Some of the 
still armed national guard rallied to their side. Eager for 
blood, they assassinated General Lecomte and General 
Thomas, who had fought well for France. M. Thiers, the 
government officials, and the members of the Assembly had 
time to withdraw to Versailles. 

Marshal MacMahon, now healed from his wounds, and 
many French prisoners of war had already returned. The 
marshal had the melancholy duty of placing himself at 
their head to put down an insurrection of their fellow-coun- 
trymen. It was necessary to undertake a regular siege and 
bombard the capital. Inside the city any semblance of 
order soon gave way to anarchy, but the insurgents fought 
with ferocity. They butchered Monseigneur Darboy, — the 
third archbishop of Paris who has fallen victim during this 
century to a Parisian mob, — the curate of the Madeleine, 
and the President of the Court of Appeals. In the quarter l 
of Belleville they slaughtered sixty-two soldiers and priests 
whom they held as hostages. After the government troops 
had forced their way through the gates, a murderous hand- 



38 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1871-1873. 

to-hand fight in the streets continued for seven days before 
resistance was quelled. Maddened by rage at defeat the 
communists sought to destroy all Paris and bury themselves 
in its ashes. The women were more demoniac than the 
men. They succeeded in burning the Hotel de Ville, the 
Palace of the Legion of Honor, the Palace of the Tuileries, 
the Library of the Louvre, and many other public and pri- 
vate buildings. The column of the Place Vendome they 
threw to the ground. The horrified troops showed scant 
mercy to their miserable captives. Por a year there were 
court-martials and executions. Thirteen thousand persons 
were transported or condemned to prison for the crimes of 
the Commune. In the wars of 1500 years Paris had never 
suffered as at the hands of her own children in this 
insurrection. 

M. Thiers, President of the Republic (1871-1873).— 
Thus, at the beginning of his presidency had devolved upon 
Thiers two cruel tasks. The one was to make peace with 
a foreign invader gorged with victory. The other was to 
extinguish civil war. 

The sight of an army of occupation wounded the nation 
to the quick. With tireless energy and wonderful skill 
Thiers devoted himself to discharging the war indemnity of 
$1,000,000,000. By September, 1873, it had all been paid, 
not in paper but in hard coin, and the last German soldier 
had recrossed the frontier. The president well deserved 
the title of " Liberator of the Territory," which was decreed 
him in public opinion. 

How long the deputies of the Assembly should hold their 
seats had never been determined, and they governed with- 
out a constitution. Thiers was a liberal monarchist, but 
a patriot above all. He believed that under the circum- 
stances only a republican form of government was possible 
for Prance. Thereby he incurred the hostility of the 
majority which was made up of legitimists, Orleanists and 
imperialists. These groups were at variance with one 
another and agreed only in antagonism to the republic. 
Some were moved by loyalty to a dynasty ; others by the 
dreaded spectre of radicalism and the red flag. On May 23, 
1873, by a test vote of 360 to 344 the Assembly expressed 
its desire that the president should change his policy. The 
old man, whose life of seventy-six years had been conse- 
crated to his country, preferred to resign. 



A.D. 1873-1875.] THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 39 

Presidency of Marshal MacMahon (1873-1879). — On the 
same day the Assembly elected Marshal MacMahon, Duke 
of Magenta, as his successor. This soldier of the empire 
was supposed to be Orleanist at heart. He was a man 
of upright character, universally esteemed, but cast in 
the mould of a general rather than of a statesman. The 
Orleanist Duke de Broglie was made minister of foreign 
affairs. In the new ministry all the three monarchist 
groups were represented. The republicans were likewise 
split into three sections: the Left Centre or conservative 
republicans; the Left or more advanced republicans; the 
Extreme Left or radicals. The last faction were under the 
control of Gambetta, a natural orator and skilled politician 
who, despite his restless temperament, knew how to tem- 
porize and wait. 

The Eepublic existed de facto, but had never been offi- 
cially decreed. The Orleanists fused with the legitimists 
and consented to proclaim the childless Henry, Count of 
Chambord, as king, the succession to devolve on the Count 
of Paris, the head of the house of Orleans. The vote of the 
Assembly seemed secured for the grandson of Charles X, 
when the monarchist schemes were wrecked on the question 
of the color of a flag. The Count of Chambord refused to 
recognize the tricolor, associated with the Revolution and 
the empire, and made his acceptance of the throne condi- 
tional upon the restoration of the white flag. Henry IV 
had declared that Paris is worth a mass. His descendant, 
Henry of Chambord, chose to reject a throne rather than 
abandon the symbol of his house. Negotiations could go 
no farther, for the tricolor was interwoven with all the 
later life of France. The disappointed monarchists to- 
gether with the republican Left Centre voted that the presi- 
dency of Marshal MacMahon should continue for seven 
years (November 20, 1873). Alarmed by the progress of 
imperialism, the Assembly, on January 30, 1875, by a 
majority of one recognized the Republic as the definite 
government of Prance. 

Meanwhile the deputies toiled laboriously at the forma- 
tion of a provisional constitution, which was finally voted 
on February 25, 1875. This constitution was added to or 
modified several times in the course of the year. It pro- 
vided for a Chamber of 733 deputies elected by universal 
suffrage for a term of four years, and for a Senate of 300 



40 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1875-1877. 

members, 225 to be elected by the departments and colonies 
for a term of nine years — seventy-five going out of office 
every three years — and seventy-five by the national assem- 
bly for life. The president of the Republic was to be 
chosen, not by a plebiscite, but by the Senate and Chamber 
of Deputies meeting in joint session. He was to hold office 
for seven years and could be reelected. His power was to 
resemble that of a constitutional sovereign and his ministers 
were responsible to the Chambers. The attributes of the 
two houses were poorly defined, and were sure to be the 
cause of future contention. Distrust of or indifference to 
the will of the people was a marked feature in the elabora- 
tion of the constitution. Thus Versailles, and not Paris, 
was declared the seat of government and legislation. More- 
over, each faction sought to so adjust the provisions as to 
perpetuate itself. The Senate was carefully designed as 
a bulwark of conservatism or an obstructive force. 

The Assembly dissolved in December, 1875. The elec- 
tions gave a strong majority in the Chamber to the repub- 
licans. M. Dufaure became President of the Council, or 
prime minister, with M. Leon Say as minister of finance. 
He was succeeded a few months later by M. Jules Simon, 
an orator and versatile writer as well as accomplished states- 
man. He endeavored to serve the nation rather than a 
party, and to maintain a middle course between the con- 
servatives and the radicals, who daily became more hostile 
to each other. Religious questions intensified the dispute. 
The prime minister satisfied none and alienated all. 

The republican sentiment was daily becoming stronger 
in the country, but Marshal MacMahon was too much 
bound by traditions and of too inflexible a nature to under- 
stand or conform to the march of public opinion. On May 
16, 1877, he brought about the resignation of M. Simon, 
and appointed a monarchist ministry whose principal mem- 
bers were the Orleanist Duke de Broglie and the impe- 
rialist M. de Fourtou. The Senate was compliant and 
approving, but the refractory Chamber of Deputies was 
prorogued for a month. When it reassembled, by an im- 
mense majority it passed a vote of lack of confidence in the 
ministry. The Senate authorized the dissolution of the 
Chamber, which was at once dissolved. A coup d'etat was 
dreaded, whereby some sort of monarchy should be imposed, 
but the monarchists could not agree upon whose brow to 
place the crown. 



a.d. 1877-1879.] THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 41 

Then followed all over the country the most genuine 
electoral campaign in which France had ever engaged. The 
government applied all the pressure in its power to deter- 
mine the result. The marshal traversed the country, his 
partisans believing many votes would be influenced by his 
military renown and by the memory of his great services 
under the empire. Gambetta organized the opposition and 
everywhere delivered impassioned and convincing speeches. 
For a time he allowed his radicalism to slumber that he 
might rally under one banner all the anti-monarchists of 
whatever camp. A. practical theorist, he had declared that 
a principle must not be pushed too far and that one must 
make the best of opportunity rather than risk everything 
and so perhaps lose all. For this he was later called an 
opportunist, and the name was applied to those who fol- 
lowed his lead. 

In the heat of the electoral battle Thiers died at St. Ger- 
main. He, more than any other man, had been the 
acknowledged chief of the liberal party. National grati- 
tude conspired with party loyalty to make his funeral the 
occasion of an imposing and overwhelming demonstra- 
tion. 

The republican victory was magnificent. In the new 
Chamber the opponents of the marshal had a majority of 
110, which was further increased by invalidating the elec- 
tions of fifty-two government candidates. They refused to 
vote the budget unless the president chose his cabinet from 
the parliamentary majority. He yielded, and called to the 
ministry MM. Dufaure, Waddington, Marcere, de Frey- 
cinet and Leon Say. 

The following year there was a truce in political strife. 
France and Paris united to further the International Expo- 
sition of 1878, endeavoring to eclipse its brilliant prede- 
cessor of 1867. The seats of seventy-five senators became 
vacant in 1879. The success of the republicans was so 
complete as to assure them henceforth a majority in that 
hitherto conservative body. Marshal MacMahon judged 
his position untenable and resigned the chief magistracy 
(January 30, 1879). 

His presidency was the long crisis in the history of the 
France of to-day. The longer the crisis continued, the more 
definite and stable the result. Since then president, 
Chamber and Senate have been in political accord as to the 



42 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1879-1882. 

system of government. That 16th of May, 1877, when 
M. Simon was dismissed and the Duke de Broglie appointed 
prime minister, was the Sadowa of monarchical restoration 
in France. 

Presidency of M. Grevy (1879-1887). — M. Grevy was at 
once elected president of the Republic. Gambetta suc- 
ceeded him as president of the Chamber of Deputies. Fre- 
quent changes in the ministry followed one another, the 
conservatives growing weaker and the radical tendency 
becoming continually more marked. The death of the 
Prince Imperial in South Africa (June 8, 1880), where he 
had joined a British expedition against the Zulus, blasted 
the rising hopes of the imperialists, who could not agree as 
to who should be regarded as heir of his claims. 

The seat of government was removed from Versailles to 
Paris. The schools and convents of the Jesuits were sup- 
pressed. A special authorization was required for the 
existence of the other religious orders. Public education 
was extended while removed from the hands of the clergy. 
All persons still under condemnation for participation in 
the commune were amnestied. The 14th of July, the an- 
niversary of the capture of the Bastile, was declared a 
national holiday. M. Jules Ferry replaced as prime min- 
ister M. de Freycinet, who was not considered sufficiently 
energetic in enforcing the decrees against the religious 
orders. An expedition to Tunis forced the bey to sign a 
treaty, placing his country under the protectorate of France. 
Gambetta at last became prime minister (November 14, 
1881). Much was expected of him, but his old-time energy 
and fire seemed to have disappeared. Nor did he receive 
the support of the Chamber in the measures he proposed. 
After holding office for a little more than two months he 
resigned, and died soon after, never having attained the 
presidency, the goal of his ambition. 

In Egypt complications arose. The khedive had con- 
fided the supervision of the finances to two controllers, 
appointed by Great Britain and France respectively, so as 
to protect the French and British holders of Egyptian bonds. 
Judging the interests of their subjects endangered, the two 
Powers determined to interfere (1882). After much inde- 
cision France refused to cooperate in the military interven- 
tion, which was carried out by Great Britain, and the dual 
control abolished. 



A.d. 1882-1887.] THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 43 

In Madagascar the Hovas encroached on the privileges of 
certain French residents. The French admiral who com- 
manded the squadron in the Indian Ocean demanded that 
the northwestern part of the island should be placed under 
a French protectorate and a large indemnity be paid (1883). 
The queen of the Hovas refused. Her capital, Tamatave, 
was bombarded, but the French afterwards were signally 
defeated. Finally by treaty it was arranged that adminis- 
tration of internal affairs should be left to the queen, but 
that France should control the foreign relations of the 
island. 

Then followed (1884) an inglorious war with China, in 
consequence of French incursions into territory over which 
the Chinese asserted suzerainty. After terrible loss and 
expense the French were confirmed in the possession of 
Annam and Tonquin. The by no means fruitful expedi- 
tions to Madagascar and China caused the fall of M. Jules 
Ferry (1885), who had been prime minister for twenty-five 
months. In 1885 the constitution was revised and some of 
its conservative features expunged. The Senate was de- 
prived of any right to interfere in the budget, and it was 
determined that henceforth no senator should be elected for 
life. A law was also passed enforcing scrutin de liste, or 
the election of deputies upon a general departmental ticket. 
By the previous system of scrutin d'arrondissement each 
deputy had been elected singly by the vote of the district 
which he represented. 

In the elections of 1885 the radicals and socialists, as 
well as the monarchists, made large gains at the expense 
of the moderate republicans. Thereupon the government 
took stringent measures against the princes of houses 
formerly ruling in France. It was intrusted with discre- 
tionary power to remove them all from the country, and 
was furthermore ordered to expel all claimants of the throne 
and their heirs. Therefore a presidential decree banished 
Prince Napoleon and his son, Prince Victor, and the Count 
of Paris with his son, the Duke of Orleans. The names 
of all the members of the Bonaparte and Orleans families 
were stricken from the army roll. 

On the expiration of his term M. Grevy had been re- 
elected president. His son-in-law, M. Wilson, became im- 
plicated in scandals arising over the sale of decorations 
and of appointments in the army. M. Grevy unwisely 



44 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1887-1891. 

interfered to protect his son-in-law" from justice. Though 
not accused of complicity in the crime, he was forced by 
the indignant Chambers to resign (December 2, 1887). He 
was then eighty years of age. 

Presidency of M. Sadi Carnot (1887-1894). — The choice 
of the Chambers fell upon a worthy and illustrious candi- 
date, M. Sadi Carnot. He was a grandson of that Carnot 
who, in 1793 during the Eevolution, had proved himself 
unequalled as a military organizer and was called by his 
countrymen " the genius of victory." 

The most prominent figure at that time in France was 
General Boulanger. His theatrical bearing and his sup- 
posed, but unproven, abilities made him a popular idol. 
For insubordination in the army he had been placed upon 
the retired list. A duel, in which he was worsted by a 
civilian, M. Floquet, the prime minister, did not damage 
his prestige. Elected deputy by enormous majorities, first 
in the department of Dordogne, and then in the department 
of Nord, he resigned his seat, but was then triumphantly 
elected on one and the same day in the departments of 
Nord, Charente-Inferieure, and the Somme. His political 
platform of revision of the constitution and dissolution of 
the Chamber enabled him to draw into his following all the 
disaffected and discontented of whatever party or class. 
The government was alarmed at his intrigues and prosecuted 
him before the High Court of Justice. Struck with sudden 
panic he did not present himself for trial, but fled to Great 
Britain. The trial proceeded in his absence. It was proved 
that he had received 3,000,000 francs from the Orleanist 
Duchess d'Uzes to further his political machinations. His 
popularity at once vanished. Finally (September 30, 
1891), he committed suicide on the grave of Madame de 
Bonnemain, who had followed him in his exile and sup- 
ported him by her bounty for two years. 

Despite the fiasco of General Boulanger an urgent de- 
mand continued for a revision of the constitution. The 
revision bill introduced by M. Floquet was received coldly 
in the Chamber, whereupon he resigned, and M. Tirard, an 
economist, formed a new ministry. Scrutin d'arrondisse- 
ment had previously been restored, the government consid- 
ering the scrutin de liste more favorable to the scheme of 
political adventurers. Also a law was passed forbidding a 
citizen to present himself as a candidate for more than one 



a.d. 1890-1892.] THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 45 

seat in the Chamber. After long debate a new army bill 
was adopted, making three years' service requisite instead 
of five, and compelling students and priests to serve one 
year. 

The ministry of M. Tirard and of his successor, M. de 
Freycinet, devoted special attention to industrial questions. 
The system of free trade which had prevailed in France 
since 1860 was succeeded by high duties on nearly all im- 
ports. A special tariff with far lower rates was drawn up 
to secure reciprocity treaties with foreign countries. 
Great discontent prevailed among the working classes. 
The annual May-day labor demonstrations had become a 
menace to law and order. Frequent strikes produced armed 
conflicts between the soldiers and the mob. To appease 
the agitation the government founded a Labor Bureau and 
introduced bills for the protection of women and children 
in the factories. 

So far the Catholic Church and the Republic had been 
generally regarded as hostile to each other. This feeling 
was an injury to both. In 1890 an illustrious prelate, 
Cardinal Lavigerie, archbishop of Algiers, published a 
letter, declaring it the true policy of the Catholic Church 
to support the Republic. At once the cardinal was bitterly 
denounced by the reactionary section of his coreligionists, 
but his policy was warmly commended by Pope Leo XIII. 
In consequence there have been far more amicable relations 
between the church and state, and the prevailing system 
has received the adhesion of many who had formerly 
opposed it. 

In 1892 France was convulsed by the Panama scandal. 
Twelve years before M. de Lesseps, to whom the Suez Canal 
was due, organized the Panama Canal Company to construct 
a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. His immense 
reputation was supposed to guarantee success. Shares were 
eagerly subscribed for, especially by the laboring classes, 
and the government also advanced large loans. In 1889, 
after $280,000,000 had been expended and small progress 
made, the company dissolved. Thousands of subscribers 
were ruined. The government prosecuted the directors for 
misappropriation of funds and for bribery of public officials. 
M. Ba'ihaut, minister of public works in 1886, was proved 
to have received 375,000 francs, though he demanded 
1,000,000. Other deputies and state officers were convicted 



46 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1893-1894. 

and sentenced. M. de Lesseps himself, though on his 
death-bed, was condemned to five years' imprisonment and 
to pay a fine of 5000 francs. During the investigation one 
cabinet toppled after another. In April, 1893, as the storm 
abated, M. Dupuy formed a ministry. While the French 
were punishing civilized criminals at home, they were car- 
rying on a tedious war in Africa against the barbarous king 
of Dahomey. Finally, his capital, Ahomey, was taken, 
and in 1894 his territories made a French protectorate. 

The elections of 1893 revealed the marked progress of 
socialism, and a corresponding decrease of conservatism 
among the voters. When M. Dupuy proposed an anti- 
socialistic programme to the newly elected Chamber, he 
could not obtain a vote of confidence. M. Casimir-Perier 
was invited to form a cabinet. Anarchism seemed to ter- 
rorize Paris and France. Many magistrates were attacked. 
In the Chamber of Deputies an anarchist, not a member, 
hurled a bomb at the president. Though laws were enacted 
against the propagation of anarchistic doctrines, "there 
was an epidemic of bombs in Paris in the spring of 1894." 

On June 24, 1894, President Carnot paid a formal visit to 
Lyons. As he rode through the streets an Italian rushed 
before him and stabbed him, shouting, " Long live anarchy ! " 
The illustrious victim died that same night. 

He was universally mourned. His dignified and courtly 
manners, no less than his spotless character, had com- 
manded the admiration of his countrymen. The perfection 
of address, with which he had met the Assembly at Ver- 
sailles on May 5, 1889, the hundredth anniversary of the 
convocation of the States General, and had inaugurated the 
International Exposition at Paris the following day, indi- 
cated the ideal of a French chief magistrate. But it was as 
a statesman-president, lifted above the burning but puerile 
contentions of party politics, that he enhanced the reputa- 
tion of the French Republic and won the respect of the 
world. 

Presidency of M. Casimir-Perier (1894). — M. Casimir- 
Perier, the candidate of the moderate republicans, was 
elected by the Senate and Chamber three days after the 
assassination of M. Carnot. But he was passionately 
hated by the socialists and radicals, who employed every 
weapon to break down his authority. Corruption in con- 
nection with certain railway franchises was proved against 



A.d. 1895-1897.] THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 47 

some of his friends, and this compelled the Cabinet to 
retire. Finding it difficult to form a new ministry and dis- 
heartened by sudden unpopularity, M. Casimir-Perier 
resigned the presidency. 

Presidency of M. Faure (1895- ). — The three candi- 
dates were M. Brisson, President of the Chamber, M. Wal- 
deck-Rousseau and M. Felix Faure. The latter was elected 
(January 17). His occupancy of the chair has been marked 
by shrewdness and tact. During a tour through southeast- 
ern France in 1897 his democratic ways and close attention 
to whatever had to do with the army increased his popu- 
larity. An intimate alliance with Russia has of late years 
been greatly desired by the French, who regarded them- 
selves as otherwise politically isolated in Europe. They 
were much gratified, when at the opening of the Baltic 
Canal in 1895, the Russian and French fleets in company 
entered the harbor of Kiel and when General Dragomanoff 
and the Russian ambassador attended the manoeuvres of 
five army corps, numbering more than 120,000 men, in 
eastern France. Enthusiasm reached its limit on October 
5, 1896, when the Tsar and Tsarina reviewed the French 
fleet off Cherbourg. Afterwards their majesties visited 
Paris, and the capital abandoned itself to festivities for 
three days. In August, 1897, President Faure returned 
the visit of his imperial guests, and was magnificently 
entertained. Afterwards he received such an ovation in 
France as is rarely extended a conqueror. 

His first prime minister, M. Ribot, was replaced (Octo- 
ber 30, 1895) by M. Bourgeois, and France had for the first 
time a cabinet composed wholly of radicals. Then the 
newspaper, La France, raked over again the embers of the 
Panama scandal, publishing the names of 104 members of 
the Chamber belonging to different parties, who, it asserted, 
had received bribes from the Panama Canal Company. 
There was a furious stir and further investigation was 
ordered, but little came of it. Another scandal, as to the 
concession of phosphate lands in Algeria, also made much 
noise. The socialists in the two Houses and all over the 
country redoubled their activity. They determined, on 
the anniversary of the death of the communist Blanqui, to 
make a demonstration at his grave in the cemetery of Pere 
la Chaise, but it was broken up by the police and their red 
flags confiscated. For months the Senate and House were 



48 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1894-1898. 

at variance over questions of taxation, over the appropria- 
tion for the International Exposition of 1900 and the policy 
of the government in Madagascar. M. Bourgeois gave way 
to M. Meline as prime minister, who formed the thirty- 
fourth cabinet which had administered affairs since the 
resignation of M. Thiers in 1873. 

During the last two years much progress has been made 
in reconciling moderate republicanism and the Catholic 
Church. On the other hand, the antagonism to the Jews 
has permeated almost all classes. The socialists started 
the movement, denouncing them as holders of property; 
but the aversion now shown them in France is based upon 
religion and race. The Dreyfus case furnishes a deplorable 
example. Captain Dreyfus, one of the few Jewish officers 
in the army, was arrested in 1894 on a charge of selling 
military plans to foreigners. He was tried by secret court- 
martial. Incriminatory documents were shown the judges, 
which neither he nor his counsel was permitted to see. 
He was declared guilty and sentenced to transportation for 
life. It is commonly believed that he was denied a fair 
trial because a Jew, and that on a fair trial his innocence 
would be made clear. When the famous novelist Zola 
made an effort to have the facts brought out, every obstacle 
was put in the way by the populace and courts. M. Zola 
was twice brought to trial on charge of libelling the gov- 
ernment. Though he was twice condemned, the agitation 
increased rather than diminished. 

The question took on an international phase. The Ger- 
man government had been accused of complicity in the sup- 
posed revelations of Captain Dreyfus. It branded these 
accusations as falsehoods and demanded that they be offi- 
cially withdrawn. Careful investigation (August, 1898) 
proved the truth of the German statement and made evi- 
dent that at least a portion of the papers employed to 
convict Captain Dreyfus were forgeries. The chief of the 
French intelligence bureau confessed a share in these for- 
geries and committed suicide. The chief of the staff, Gen- 
eral Boisdeffre, and some of the highest officials resigned. 
The government now faces a terrible dilemma. If it re- 
vises the trial of Captain Dreyfus and his innocence is 
demonstrated, popular confidence in the management of the 
army will be shaken and perhaps destroyed. If it does not 



A.D. 1896.] THE THIRD FRENCH REPUBLIC 49 

revise that trial, it rests under the imputation of denying 
opportunity for justice to a cruelly accused man. 

France in 1898. — The Third French Republic is now 
completing its twenty-eighth year. It has thus already 
lasted longer than any other form of government — empire, 
absolute or limited monarchy — which has arisen in France 
since 1789. Though differing in many respects, both as 
to theory and practice, from American ideas of republican- 
ism, it nevertheless appears to be the system most appro- 
priate to the genius of French character and most acceptable 
to the French people. The French have not long centuries 
of self-government behind them, and for generations a 
French republic must be a trial of experiments. This 
Republic has reorganized an effete and shattered military 
system and has rendered the French army to-day one of the 
most powerful militant forces in Europe. It has reorgan- 
ized a defective system of instruction and developed and 
popularized both lower and higher education. Though 
attended more than once with corruption and scandal in 
high places, it has surpassed both the empire and the mon- 
archy in official purity and honesty, and under it the public 
conscience has become more enlightened and hence more 
sensitive. 

At the same time in few preceding periods of twenty-eight 
years has French influence counted so little among the 
nations. The Franco-Prussian War left France politically 
effaced. Her ablest foreign ministers, like M. Hanotaux, 
when dealing with the Armenian, Cretan and Greek ques- 
tions, have been able to do nothing more than follow in 
the wake of the great Powers. 

Since 1824 every French ruler — Charles X, Louis Phi- 
lippe, Napoleon III, Thiers, MacMahon, Grevy, Carnot, 
Casimir-Perier — has been driven from his place by revolu- 
tion or assassination or the overwhelming force of hostile 
public opinion. It may be so eventually with M. Faure. 
But, while his three and a half years of presidency offer little 
as yet of permanent interest or importance, he certainly 
has consolidated the Republic and brought Frenchmen nearer 
each other. 



50 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY 



VII 

THE GERMAN EMPIRE 
(1871-1898) 

The Imperial Constitution. — The Constitution was pro- 
mulgated on April 16, 1871, in the name of the king of 
Prussia, as head of the North German Confederation, of 
the kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg and the Grand Dukes 
of Baden and Hesse. It was thus granted by five accordant 
princes and not wrought out in a constitutional assembly. 
It formed the code of twenty-six distinct states now all 
united under the iron rule of the Hohenzollerns and sub- 
mitted to the same rigid discipline in war and diplomacy. 
Surfeited with such military glory as has been seldom 
achieved, the Germans, content for a time to forget their 
old aspirations after liberty, hailed the new system with 
transport. Hitherto one had been a Prussian, Bavarian, 
Hessian subject. Now the local name was obscured by the 
larger title of German subject. A man's civil rights were 
no longer local, but equal and similar all over the empire. 
The former German Empire was centrifugal, each emperor 
being chosen by election and each state retaining its feudal 
laws. The modern German Empire is centripetal, heredity 
in the Prussian house transmitting the succession with the 
precision of a well-oiled machine, and the imperial Constitu- 
tion paramount to all customs and enactments of the various 
states. The former Empire of Germany was a vague politi- 
cal expression. The modern German Empire is a definite 
political fact. 

The legislative authority was exercised by a Bundesrath 
or Federal Council, composed of representatives of the vas- 
sal princes of the empire, and by a Beichstag, or Imperial 
Diet, composed of deputies elected by the people. There 
was one deputy for each 100,000 inhabitants, and he held 
his seat three years. In the Federal Council Prussia had 
only seventeen votes out of fifty-eight. The consent of 



a.d. 1871-1876.] THE GERMAN EMPIRE 51 

the Bundesrath was necessary to declare war, except in case 
of the territory being suddenly invaded. Whenever one- 
third of its members desired, it was to be convoked in 
special session. All foreign policy was to be directed by 
the imperial chancellor. Berlin was in general the centre 
of imperial government and legislation, but the seat of the 
Imperial Tribunal was at Leipzig, and the accountant-gen- 
eral's office at Potsdam. The army on a peace footing 
numbered more than 400,000 men. Its military organiza- 
tion, in awful efficiency hitherto unapproached in human 
history, enabled it in case of war to put into the field 
1,456,677 men, perfectly disciplined and equipped. 

The Alliance of the Three Emperors (1871-1876).— All 
Europe might well be alarmed for its own safety after the 
victories and consolidation of Germany. There was no 
continental power, except Russia, which was not certain to 
go down before the new state in case of war. Not only 
smaller neighboring states but France herself trembled 
before the armed colossus which had arisen among them. 
Austria had nothing to hope except by peace. She mani- 
fested a strong desire to be on amicable terms with the new 
Power which had thrust her out of Germany. The Tsar 
Alexander II, a man of peace, was the friend and admirer 
of the Emperor William. The three emperors, Alex- 
ander II, William I and Francis Joseph drew together in a 
friendly understanding, which is called the Alliance of the 
Three Emperors. It was only when Russia drew her sword 
in 1877 to rescue her coreligionists, the Bulgarians, from 
further outrages at the hands of the Ottomans, that this 
friendly understanding was disturbed. It is to be said 
however that imperial Germany, while prepared for any 
eventuality, has attacked none and has pursued a policy of 
peace with all. 

Organization of Alsace-Lorraine (1871). — The inhabitants 
of the annexed territory, though German in origin, were 
intensely French in sentiment. With indescribable sorrow 
they saw themselves transferred to Germany. Many emi- 
grated rather than submit to foreign domination, and a large 
number abandoned their homes and removed to France. 
Alsace and Lorraine were at first governed as an imperial 
province under military dictatorship and dependent upon 
the imperial chancellor. Allowed representation in the 
Reichstag in 1874, their fifteen deputies unitedly and 



% 
52 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1873-1887. 

boldly protested against their annexation by force and 
then solemnly withdrew. Bismarck believed that by 
shrewdly permitting them a degree of home rule their op- 
position might be gradually undermined. They were 
granted a Provincial Committee to sit at Strasburg and 
discuss all bills, which were afterwards submitted to the 
Beichstag, concerning their domestic and fiscal affairs. 
Gradually the functions of this committee were enlarged. 
In 1879 the government of the province was removed from 
the direction of the chancellor and intrusted to a statthalter 
or imperial envoy to reside at Strasburg. Marshal Man- 
teuffel, a distinguished soldier and statesman, was appointed 
to the position. By mild and conciliatory measures he did 
his utmost to reconcile the people, but in vain. Their 
aversion was only the more openly expressed. Then fol- 
lowed a policy of violent repression. The chancellor, 
Caprivi, declared in 1890 that the attempt to foster German 
feeling having failed, nothing was left but to dig deeper 
the ditch which separated Alsace-Lorraine from France. 
Though powerless to resist, the Alsace-Lorrainers have 
become no less sullen and determined in their anti-German 
sentiments. 

The Culturkampf (1873-1887). — Bismarck, now a prince 
and chancellor of the empire, had met nothing but success. 
In the Culturkampf, or civilization fight, he undertook a 
task beyond his powers, in which he was to encounter his 
great political defeat. He had unified Germany by merg- 
ing it under one central power. The Catholic Church in 
Prussia, as well as all other churches, must pass through 
the same process of centralization and be merged in and 
made subordinate to the state. In 1873 the Prussian min- 
ister of public worship, Dr. Falk, introduced and succeeded 
in passing the so-called Falk or May Laws. Ostensibly 
these laws aimed at securing liberty to the laity, a national 
and German rather than an ultramontane training to the 
clergy and protection for the inferior clergy against their 
superiors. They provided that all theological seminaries 
should be controlled by the state, that the state should 
examine all candidates for the priesthood and should fur- 
thermore have the right to approve or reject all ecclesias- 
tical appointments. Pope Pius IX remonstrated in an 
urgent letter to the emperor. The Catholic bishops collec- 
tively declared they could not obey these laws. But they 



A.D. 1878-1890.] THE GERMAN EMPIRE 53 

•were none the less vigorously enforced by fine, imprison- 
ments and exile. It was religious persecution on an enor- 
mous scale in the latter half of the nineteenth century. 
Within eight years' time the parishes of more than one-fifth 
of the 8500 Catholic priests in Prussia were vacant, and no 
successors could be appointed. The perfect union of the 
Catholic clergy and laity with no weapon but passive resist- 
ance won the victory in the end. The May Laws were sus- 
pended in 1881 and later on practically repealed. After 1887 
all state interference in the administration of the church 
and in the education of the priesthood was wholly abandoned. 

Economic Policy (1878-1890). — Up to 1848 the Zollver- 
ein had favored a protective policy. Afterwards in the 
sixties had followed a system of reciprocity treaties with 
France, Austria, Great Britain, Italy and other countries 
showing a marked tendency toward free trade. The national 
liberals advocated abolition of all duties on raw materials, 
a policy supposed to enjoy the approval of Prince Bismarck. 
But in December, 1878, the chancellor sent a communica- 
tion to the Federal Council, wherein he condemned the 
existing policy and advocated higher rates as a means to 
increase the revenues of the state. His will was law. A 
new tariff was introduced and passed. It placed heavy 
duties on raw materials and considerably increased the 
duties on textile goods and other articles already taxed. 
Subsequently, until his fall in 1890, the tariff was forced 
higher and higher. 

The Triple Alliance (1879- ).— Only the principal 
facts and not all the details are known in reference to the 
triple alliance of Germany, Austria and Italy. Austria, 
after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, whereby she 
had secured Hertzegovina and Bosnia, was uneasy on the 
Russian frontier. Neither Austria nor Russia was likely 
to forget the part the former had played in the Crimean 
War. So she concluded a secret treaty with Germany in 
1879, "an alliance for peace and mutual defence," in case 
either Power should be attacked by Russia or by some state 
supported by Russia. Italy, without reason to dread attack, 
but probably desirous of imperial fellowship and recog- 
nition, asked to be admitted to this alliance. Meanwhile, 
from 1887 to 1890 another secret treaty existed between 
Germany and Russia which only became known to the world 
by the revelations of Bismarck in 1896. 



54 CONTEMPORARY BISTORT [a.d. 1888-1898. 

Death of Emperor William I (March 9, 1888). —The ab- 
solutist policy, with which he began his reign as king of 
Prussia, had been maintained by him as German emperor 
and won a magnificent success. The astounding growth of 
the socialist party was demonstration against a principle 
rather than against a man. The appreciation of his great 
achievements had made the sovereign, who was hated and 
hooted at the beginning of his reign, the idol of his people 
at the end. His simple and homely ways, his blunt sol- 
dierly bearing and his chivalric devotion to his mother's 
memory won the hearts even of those Germans who were 
the most hostile to his political principles. His death at 
the age of ninety-one was received with a consternation 
of grief. Though Bismarck and Moltke outlived him, it 
was an anxious question in the minds of many whether the 
imperial fabric he had built up would survive his departure. 

Frederick I (1888). — The Crown Prince Frederick suc- 
ceeded. He had made a splendid record as a soldier in the 
Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. On several 
occasions he had shown liberal tendencies, which his mar- 
riage with Victoria, crown princess of Great Britain and 
eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, was supposed to fortify. 
He had even protested against the Army bill of 1862 and 
given public expression of his dissent from a subsequent 
despotic action of the government. But a fatal throat dis- 
ease had fastened upon him before his accession. It was 
only as a doomed and speechless invalid that he occupied 
the throne. His three months' reign is memorable for his 
spirit of self-forgetfulness and devotion to duty. 

Reign of William n (1888- ).— William II was 
twenty-nine years old when he became emperor. His first 
proclamation was addressed to the army and navy, and he 
has manifested ever since an almost passionate interest in 
these branches of the public service. His speech on open- 
ing the Reichstag, as well as his first address to the German 
people, indicated his absolutist policy. Louis XIV him- 
self was in the seventeenth century not a more convinced 
impersonification of the divine right of kings. "The 
supreme guardian of law and order," he regards himself as 
crowned by God, as the anointed elector of the divine will, 
and as entitled to the unquestioning obedience of his sub- 
jects. A wonderful activity or restlessness has been the 
most prominent characteristic of his reign. No other 



A.D. 1888-1898.] THE GERMAN EMPIRE 55 

European sovereign has been such a constant traveller to 
foreign lands. No other European sovereign has so inter- 
fered not only in all branches of administration, but in all 
matters relating to public, social and religious life. A 
ready speaker, there is hardly a topic left untouched in his 
speeches, and his speeches have been delivered on all occa- 
sions. Always the dominant sentiment, whatever the 
theme, is the doctrine of autocracy. 

The first year of his reign was marked by an event of 
historic significance. In October, 1888, the free cities of 
Hamburg and Bremen, whose right to remain free ports had 
been ratified in the imperial constitution of 1871, renounced 
their special and ancient privileges and completely merged 
themselves in the common Eatherland. Great pomp at- 
tended the ceremony. The emperor came in person to 
accept their patriotic sacrifice. Except that their sover- 
eignty was represented in the Bundesrath by the side of 
that of princes, the last vestige of the Hanseatic League 
had disappeared. 

Between the veteran chancellor, who had controlled the 
helm for almost a generation, and the youthful emperor, 
eager to exercise his power, there was sure to be friction. 
The temper of Bismarck, by no means pliable, had not 
softened with success and age. The chief of the staff, the 
Count of Waldersee, and other courtiers fostered the grow- 
ing alienation. The chancellor persisted in a bill which 
the emperor disapproved. The emperor issued a decree in 
a sense which the chancellor had always opposed. The 
chancellor refused to repeat a certain conversation, although 
urged to do so by the emperor. On March 17, 1890, came 
a message from the emperor that he was waiting for the 
chancellor's resignation. The chancellor refused to resign. 
Then followed a direct order demanding his resignation. 
Bismarck in his fall did not manifest the self-control he had 
shown in his powerful days, and filled Germany with his 
complaints. It was his mistake to believe himself still 
essential to the state, when his work had been long since 
done. Yet the emperor might have dealt more gently with 
the old man, to whom the empire owed its existence and 
to whom he himself was indebted for his imperial crown. 
In 1894 the sovereign and the subject were publicly recon- 
ciled amid universal rejoicing, and the latter received an 
ovation from all classes at Berlin. Afterwards he exercised 



56 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1898. 

no further influence upon affairs, but quietly resided at his 
castle of Friedrichsruhe until his death (July 30, 1898). 

A work of immense utility was officially inaugurated in 
1891. This was the Baltic Canal. Beginning at Holtenau 
on the Bay of Kiel, it joins the Elbe fifteen miles from its 
mouth. Although sixty-one miles in length it requires no 
locks. By means of this stupendous achievement the Ger- 
man navy can pass from the Baltic through German terri- 
tory to the North Sea, and is no longer compelled to make 
the tortuous and dangerous voyage among the Danish islands 
and through the Cattegat and Skager Rack. 

Since 1871 the empire has engaged in no foreign war. 
But not for a moment has been relaxed the policy which 
renders Germany, and hence all Europe, a camp of soldiers 
and which secures only the anxieties and uncertainties of 
an armed peace. Because of her strategic position and the 
acknowledged efficiency of her troops, until Germany dis- 
arms, none of the other great Powers can afford to do so. 
In December, 1897, her standing army on a peace establish- 
ment comprised 607,000 men. Thus the most vigorous of 
her population were withdrawn from the ranks of producers. 
As yet she only begins to show the inevitably destructive 
consequences of an unnatural militarism. The increase of 
socialism, which does not so much menace the state as its 
prevailing military and political system, here finds its 
cause. German socialism is the appalling protest against 
inequality and government by the sword. Under Wil- 
liam I, Bismarck endeavored to prevent its expansion by 
restrictive laws and employment of force. William II has 
been slightly more sagacious because more mild in dealing 
with it. But all measures to suppress it must be abortive 
as long as the chief causes remain. In 1872 there were 
but two socialists in the Reichstag. There were forty-four 
in 1893 and in 1898 fifty-four. These figures give an unfair 
indication of their strength, inasmuch as in the cities is 
the hotbed of socialism, and the cities have a smaller num- 
ber of deputies in proportion to population than do the rural 
districts. In 1874 the socialists polled only 340,000 votes. 
In 1890 they polled 1,427,000; in 1893, 1,786,000; and in 
1898, 2,120,000. No other political party could muster 
so many adherents. The future of Germany is the gravest 
problem now confronting Europe. 



ITALY 57 



VIII 

ITALY 

Condition of the Italian Peninsnla in 1850. — The present 
of Italy was never darker and her outlook upon the future 
more discouraging than in the summer of 1850. The revo- 
lutionary war of 1848, that had swept over the country from 
the lagoons of Venice to the extremities of Sicily, had re- 
ceded, and left nothing but defeat and disappointment 
behind. 

Italy at that time comprised the Kingdom of the Two 
Sicilies, the States of the Church, the grand duchy of Tus- 
cany, the duchies of Parma and Modena, the Lombardo- 
Venetian territory and the kingdom of Piedmont or Sardinia. 
In the Two Sicilies Ferdinand II, no longer dreading popu- 
lar outbreak, had suspended the constitution which he had 
granted, and from his palace in Naples worked his brutal 
and bloody will without check or hindrance. In the States 
of the Church, stretching in irregular diagonal across Italy 
from the Tuscan Sea to the mouths of the Po, Pope Pius 
IX threw the influence of his exalted office on the side of 
despotism. Under the influence of Cardinal Antonelli and 
the protection of French bayonets he ruled as tyrannically 
as any temporal prince. In Tuscany the Archduke Leo- 
pold II, himself the grandson of an Austrian emperor, 
turned his back upon his brief compromise with the par- 
tisans of reform and maintained an Austrian garrison in 
Florence. In Parma and Modena Charles III and the cruel 
Francis V, by the aid of Austrian troops, restored an abso- 
lute government and terrorized over opposition. Lombardy 
and Venetia, placed under martial law, were governed from 
the fortress of Verona by the merciless Radetzki and Hay- 
nau, the "hyena of Brescia." 

The only exception to the universal darkness was found 
in Piedmont. In that tiny country of 4,000,000 inhab- 
itants, the "Fundamental Statute," a sort of charter, was 
still in force. It possessed a dynasty of its own and a 



68 COMKMrOK.ilxY UlSTOHY [\.v . 1850-18M 

national Bag anil a national army. Though defeated, it had 

in two campaigns dared to resist Austria. But the heroic 
Charles albert, by failure, had been forced to abdicate and 
die m exile, leaving his throne to his son, Victor Emmanuel. 
Tho young king had born« himself bravely at the battle of 
Novara. But his queen was an Austrian arehduehess. he 
was unpopular with his subjects and his abilities were a 
matter of doubt. There was little cohesion or sympathy 
between the four territories making the kingdom of Pied- 
mont or Sardinia. These were Piedmont proper, buttressed 
Rgainst the Alps and inhabited by a brave and simple people; 
southern l.iguria, with Genoa, a republican centre, ill dis- 
posed to the dynasty; Savoy, on the western slope of the 
Alps. French in language and sentiment; and the island of 
Sardinia, which remained apart from the life of Europe. 
Vet in this sparsely populated, ill-connected country the 
expulsion of the Austrians and the political unification of 
the peninsula were preparing. 

Count Cavour. — In every other respect no two men are 
more dissimilar than Prince Bismarck and Count Cavour. 
but they parallel each other in the main purpose of then- 
lives and the magnificence of its accomplishment. Cavour 
is the Italian Bismarck. Unlike his Gorman prototype he 
did not live to see his work complete, but he set in motion 
those forces which were to expel Austria from Italy as Bis- 
marck \ . ; ,i her from Germany, and to place on the map 
a kingdom of Italy as Bismarck placed there a German Em- 
pire. Himself a less spectacular figure and moving in a 
move contracted arena, he does not so centre the gaze ol 
mankind. Yet no other statesman of contemporary times 
is equally worthy to be placed next to the great German. 

By birth an aristocrat, always a monarchist, a Catholic 
but a moderate. Cavour was detested by the extremists of 
all parties. Crime minister in L852, he welcomed to Pied- 
mont tho political exiles from all over Italy, and thus early 
caused it to be understood that in his little country was the 
only refuge of Italian patriotism and liberty. 

Piedmont in the Crimean War (1855-1856). —When the 
Crimean War broke out. Cavour determined that Piedmont 
should actively participate in the conflict. Great Britain, 
Bd of troops, proposed to subsidize the Biedmontese. 
Cavour offered to enter the Franco-British alliance, not as 
a mercenary, but as an equal. His proposal to maintain 



a.d. 1856-1859.] ITALY 59 

an army of 15,000 men in the Crimea as long as the war 
lasted was gladly accepted. He more than kept his word. 
At the decisive battle of Tchernaya the discipline of his 
countrymen and the accuracy of their aim provoked admi- 
ration. The timid and hesitating course of Austria during 
the war had exasperated France and Great Britain. When 
at the Congress of Paris Cavour, as representative of Pied- 
mont, skilfully drew the attention of the plenipotentiaries 
to the evils of Austrian rule in Italy and the deplorable 
state of the peninsula, his words fell upon sympathetic ears. 
Thus the Italian question was definitely posed. It could 
not be henceforth forgotten till it received definite solution. 

The War of 1859. — At first Cavour had counted on the 
active assistance of Great Britain. Disappointed in his 
hopes, he made overtures to Napoleon. In his secret inter- 
view with Napoleon at Plombieres (July, 1858), the con- 
ditions and terms of alliance between France and Piedmont 
were verbally agreed upon. In April, 1859, Austria made 
the diplomatic blunder of taking the aggressive and forcing 
on the Avar. Victor Emmanuel appealed to his compatriots 
of the centre and south. For years secret societies had ex- 
isted over Italy, united under the mystic symbol, Verdi, 
the initials of the words Vittorio Emmanuele Re d'ltalia. 
The French and Piedmontese victories of Montebello and 
Magenta inspired them to courage and action. Popular 
risings in Tuscany, Parma and Modena drove out the dukes. 
The Romagna, the papal territories along the Adriatic, like- 
wise took fire and the papal officials were expelled. The 
overwhelming victory of Solferino was followed by the 
sudden peace of Villafranca, agreed upon by Napoleon and 
Francis Joseph. This treaty seemed to shatter all the 
hopes of Italian union and independence. 

By its terms Lombardy was to be united to Piedmont, 
and Venetia, still under the rule of Austria, was to be made 
part of an Italian federation under the presidency of the 
Pope. This petty gain was trivial compared with what 
Cavour and the Italians had hoped. The Dukes of Tuscany 
and Modena were to return to their states. The formidable 
quadrilateral — Peschiera, Mantua, Verona and Legnago — 
was retained by Austria. Victor Emmanuel could do noth- 
ing but accept the hard conditions as far as he himself and 
his country were concerned, but he would promise nothing 
farther. Cavour was broken-hearted. Utterly losing his 



60 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1859-1860. 

self-control, in a bitter two hours' interview, he over- 
whelmed his sovereign with reproaches and withdrew from 
the ministry. The definite treaty of Zurich (November 10) 
confirmed the decisions of Villafranca. 

Successful Revolutions. Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi 
(1859-1865). — The king took possession of Lombardy. 
For the banished dukes to regain their duchies was more 
difficult. In August the assemblies of Parma, Modena and 
Tuscany declared that their former rulers had forfeited all 
their rights, demanded annexation to Piedmont and recog- 
nized Victor Emmanuel as their sovereign. The Romagna 
did the same. Plebiscites by almost unanimous votes con- 
firmed these acts. The son of Charles Albert had become 
king of 11,000,000 people. In January, 1860, Cavour again 
became prime minister. 

In Naples Francis II had succeeded his father, Ferdi- 
nand II of evil memory. Deaf to the counsels of the 
French and British cabinets, he resolved to continue the 
same policy. All Sicily rebelled. Because of diplomatic 
pressure from abroad, the astute Cavour could not interfere 
or accept the propositions of the revolutionist Mazzini, but 
he could allow others to act. Garibaldi, with 1000 resolute 
men, hurried from Genoa (May 5, 1860) and landed at 
Marsala in Sicily. He was not a statesman, hardly a gen- 
eral, but only a hero who rushed on in his red shirt sure 
that others would follow and careless whether they did or 
not. In three days he stormed Palermo. The battle of 
Milazzo gave him Messina and the whole island (July 20). 
He crossed the strait and marched on Naples. Francis II 
fled from his capital (September 6). The next day Gari- 
baldi entered Naples without opposition and was hailed as 
a liberator. He was at once accepted as dictator of the 
Two Sicilies. 

But the tempestuous success of the revolution was a 
danger and menace to Cavour. Mazzini, the republicans of 
the south and even Garibaldi had no love for the house of 
Piedmont. They might easily become its foes. Mean- 
while the courts of Europe held Cavour responsible for the 
whirlwind that was unloosed. The government of every 
European state was unfriendly or openly hostile. The 
storm that had swept Sicily and Naples was ready to burst 
on Rome ; but Rome was garrisoned by French troops and 
behind them was the threatening form of Napoleon. A 



a.d. 1860-1861.] ITALY 61 

single false step on the part of Cavour might ruin all that 
Italy and Piedmont had gained in twelve anxious years. 
Indecision was fatal. Should Cavour yield to the conserva- 
tive warnings of Europe, or should he now without reserve 
head the party of action? There could be no compromise 
with Garibaldi, who was resolved to proclaim Italian inde- 
pendence from the top of the Quirinal. 

The prime minister . invited the Pope to disband his 
foreign army. When Pius IX refused, he ordered the Pied- 
montese generals to invade the papal states and rescue them 
from despotism and anarchy. After a brave defence by the 
French general, De Lamoriciere, all the still remaining 
papal territory on the Adriatic was in the hands of the 
Piedmontese, but the eternal city was left to the Pope. In 
a calm and sagacious speech, delivered before the Parlia- 
ment, but really addressed to the bar of Europe, Cavour 
declared that he submitted the question of Rome and 
Venetia to the arbitrament of time. Francis II still re- 
sisted feebly, but obstinately. He then retained only a 
Sicilian citadel and the fortress of Gaeta. A plebiscite in 
the Two Sicilies and in the papal states of Umbria and the 
Marches by an almost unanimous vote declared for union 
with emancipated Italy and for Victor Emmanuel as king. 

The monarch and the dictator held their formal but 
simple first interview near Teano (October 26). The Pied- 
montese troops and the Garibaldian volunteers threw them- 
selves into each other's arms. Victor Emmanuel and 
Garibaldi galloped to meet each other. As they embraced, 
the armies shouted, " Long live Victor Emmanuel ! " leav- 
ing it for Garibaldi to add, " king of Italy ! " 

All the Italian provinces, except Venetia and the papal 
territory on the Tuscan Sea, were now united under one 
flag. The tricolor of green, white and red sheltered them 
all. On February 18, 1861, the first national parliament 
assembled at Turin to enact laws for a people of 22,000,000 
souls. Then (June 6) Cavour died, worn out by labor and 
success. He was succeeded by Baron Ricasoli, whom Si- 
gnor Ratazzi soon replaced. The Roman question was keep- 
ing the kingdom in a ferment. Garibaldi resolved to settle 
it with the sword. Refusing to submit to the orders of the 
government, with a band of Sicilian volunteers he marched 
northward through Calabria. Encountered by the royal 
troops at Aspromonte, his followers were dispersed and he 



62 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1865-1870. 

himself was wounded and made a prisoner. The ignomini- 
ous necessity of firing upon the liberator forced the liatazzi 
ministry from office. In the autumn of 1865 the capital 
was removed from Turin to Florence. 

Alliance with Prussia against Austria (1866). — This alli- 
ance was equally advantageous to Prussia and Italy. 
Thereby Austria was compelled to divide her forces and 
despatch to the southwest generals and troops sorely needed 
on her northern frontier. Italy lost rather than gained in 
military reputation by the reverses of General La Marmora 
and Admiral Persano at Custozza and Lissa. None the 
less her assistance had inclined the scale to the side of 
Prussia. She well deserved her reward in the acquisition 
of Venetia. Another almost unanimous plebiscite and 
Victor Emmanuel, on November 7, entered the city of the 
doges as its king. 

Rome the Capital of Italy (1870) . — The Italian heart 
was always turning to Rome. In 1866 Napoleon, accord- 
ing to his promise, withdrew the French garrison, but the 
Italian government was not free to interfere in the still re- 
maining papal possessions. Garibaldi could not curb his 
impatience. A third time he marched an army upon 
Roman territory. In deference to the clerical party in 
France, Napoleon sent an expedition to support the Pope 
and Garibaldi was defeated at the battle of Mentana. The 
French prime minister, Rouher, formally declared, " Italy 
shall never enter Rome." 

Again protected by French soldiers, the Pope felt himself 
secure, and assembled the Ecumenical Council (1869). 
Soon came upon France the disasters of the Franco-Prussian 
war, and she was forced to recall every arm on which she 
could rely. Her troops quitted Rome. The king, with 
earnest tenderness, implored the Pope to recognize the in- 
evitable trend of events, and, while relinquishing his tem- 
poral sovereignty, to resign himself to that independent 
and exalted position which the Italians desired him to 
occupy. The inflexible pontiff declared he would yield 
only to compulsion. The Italian forces delayed no longer, 
but occupied the city. By one more plebiscite, this time 
the last, the life-work of the dead Cavour received its coro- 
nation, and the peninsula, reunited, had again the same 
capital as in the days of Caesar. 

The Last Years of Victor Emmanuel (1870-1878). — The 



a.d. 1870-1878.] ITALY 63 

new state at the start was surrounded by peculiar difficul- 
ties and dangers. Foremost were those arising from the 
religious question. The Pope was not merely a dispos- 
sessed temporal prince, but the spiritual head of Catholic 
Christendom. He was bitterly opposed to everything in 
the new order. He would tolerate no suggestions of com- 
promise. Against the excommunicated government of Vic- 
tor Emmanuel he threw the whole influence of the Catholic 
priesthood and appealed for help to the Catholic powers of 
Europe. The country was covered with monasteries and 
churches, which had absorbed the material wealth, while 
the people were stricken with poverty. To touch a convent 
or a priest was denounced as sacrilege. 

In the enthusiasm of revolution and conflict the Italian 
provinces had come together. At bottom they were antago- 
nistic in ideas, customs, history and local prejudices. 
They had no traditions of headship or union. Distinct 
idioms of language emphasized their separation. How 
were they ever to be moulded into one people? 

The military system of Europe laid upon Italy a heavy 
burden. When the United States of America became a 
fact, they could dismiss their troops to civil life, because 
alone upon a continent and protected by 3000 miles of 
ocean. But the safety and the very existence of Italy de- 
pended on her immediate development and maintenance of 
an immense standing army. The latest arrival among the 
nations had to conform herself to the situation as she 
found it. 

Ages of oppression had given the people few roads or 
bridges or means of communication. They had neither 
schools, courts, effective police nor equitable system of 
raising revenue. Brigandage was a profession over a large 
part of the territory. Ignorant and lawless, they were 
generations behind the civilized world. 

The king and his advisers applied themselves with pa- 
tience and good sense to the organization of the kingdom. 
They accomplished much in every department of adminis- 
tration, but evils which had been growing for centuries 
could not be radically cured in a single reign. 

By the guarantee law of May, 1871, they endeavored to 
regulate the relations of the papal and royal courts. They 
declared the person of the sovereign pontiff inviolable, 
decreed him sovereign honors and a military guard, assigned 



64 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1878-1898. 

him an annual income of 3,225,000 francs, the possession 
of the Vatican, of St. John Lateranus and the villa of Cas- 
tel-Gandolfo and their dependencies. They carefully left 
him perfect liberty in the exercise of his spiritual functions, 
while reaffirming that his temporal sovereignty had de- 
parted. But the Pope was willing to accept nothing from 
a government which he considered irreligious and anti- 
Christian, and once more protested solemnly against all the 
measures taken. 

Victor Emmanuel died on January 9, 1878, at the age of 
fifty-eight. It is pleasant to remember that on his death- 
bed he received a kindly message and absolution from the 
Holy Father, who in that supreme hour allowed his natural 
tenderness as a man to triumph over his rigid dogmatism as 
priest. One month afterwards, at the age of eighty-six, 
after a pontificate of thirty-one years — the longest in papal 
history — the Pope followed the monarch to the tomb. 
The conclave of cardinals, on February 10, elected Cardinal 
Pecci, chamberlain of the Sacred College, to the Holy See. 

The Reign of King Humbert (1878- ).— This year 
Italy celebrates the twentieth anniversary of his accession. 
His reign presents less general interest than his father's. 
Its electoral struggles have been waged rather upon the per- 
sonality of leaders — Depretis, Cairoli, Crispi — than upon 
party platforms. A leading question was that of alliances, 
whether Italy should follow France or Germany. Gradu- 
ally the centre of influence has shifted from the north to 
the more democratic provinces of the south. Burdens of 
taxation to further colonial projects and maintain an enor- 
mous army and powerful navy have fallen heavily upon an 
impoverished people. On this account during the present 
year disorders in the chief Italian cities have broken out. 
In Milan in a street fight in May, 1898, several hundred 
persons were killed and over 1000 wounded. Yet there has 
been progress in the tranquillization of the country and in 
the application of constitutional government. Specially 
has there been a remarkable development in education. 

Italy had counted upon Tunis as a future acquisition, a 
sort of colonial counterpoise to the neighboring French 
province of Algeria. But in 1881 Tunis was seized by the 
French. The angry Italians were powerless. Indignation 
at the French and national vanity made them join Germany 
and Austria in the Triple Alliance. They sought for some 



A.D. 1889-1898.] ITALY 65 

equivalent for Tunis and believed they had found it on the 
western shores of the Ked Sea. By holding Massowah on 
that sea, they imagined that all the trade of Abyssinia 
would flow through their hands. It was gratifying to think 
of sharing with the other great Powers in the spoils of Africa. 
Costly wars followed with the negus of Abyssinia, but they 
gained the colony of Eritrea (1890), South Somali (1889), 
the Somali coast (1893) and Tigre (1895). Though all 
Abyssinia was declared an Italian protectorate (1889) the 
negus, Menelek, continued his resistance. General Bara- 
tieri met a terrible reverse at Amba Alaghi (1895). Com- 
mandant Galliano made a heroic defence at Makalle, but 
on March 1, 1896, General Baratieri was crushed by the 
negus at Adowa, losing all his guns and one-third of his 
troops. This frightful disaster caused the fall of Crispi, 
who had been prime minister since 1887. Finally, the 
humiliating treaty of Adis Abeba (October 26, 1896) closed 
the ill-judged and ill-advised expedition. The absolute 
independence of Abyssinia was recognized and almost all 
the Italian conquests restored. 

Italia Irredenta. — All ancient Italy, as indicated by 
geography and extending southward from the Alps, had 
been brought under one sceptre. Beyond those mountain 
barriers or inhabiting the islands of the sea were people 
whose language was Italian and who were claimed as be- 
longing to the Italian family. Such were Nice, Savoy and 
Corsica, occupied by France, Malta by Great Britain, and 
South Tyrol, Trieste and the islands and shores of the 
northwestern Adriatic by Austria. To these territories in 
common the name of Italia Irredenta or " not emancipated 
Italy " is applied. To repossess or acquire them is the am- 
bition of to-day. So little is said concerning it that the idea 
seems to slumber, but it is no less real and deep-seated. 



66 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY 



IX 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

Accession of Francis Joseph (1848). — The reign of 
Francis Joseph fills the history of Austria during the last 
fifty years. A youth of eighteen, he ascended a throne 
that seemed tottering to its fall. In every part of his do- 
minions there was disorder or open rebellion. In the 
proclamation announcing his accession he declared, "We 
hope with the aid of God and in concert with our peoples 
to succeed in reuniting in one great state body all the 
countries and all the races of the monarchy." This am- 
bition was worthy of a great sovereign. It was possible 
only under some form of centralized federation, which, 
while grouping all around a common point, left individu- 
ality to each. It was a programme which every people 
under the monarchy except one was ready to ratify. The 
one dissident and opposing member in the body politic was 
the German minority. Accustomed to rule, it would not 
descend to a plane of equality with the other races, on 
whom it looked with the contempt of a superior. And 
they, proud of their traditions and confident in their 
strength, asked not for favors, but for rights. As a result 
the agitation was smothered for a time and Austria entered 
upon bleak years of pitiless reaction. 

Austrian Absolutism (1850-1866). — Letters patent from 
the emperor (January 1, 1852) divided the different prov- 
inces into administrative circles and curtailed further the 
meagre powers of the various diets. Hungary was ruled 
by martial law until 1854. The attempt was made to Ger- 
manize all Austrian subjects. The German language was 
rendered obligatory in the civil administration, the courts 
and schools of the Hungarians, Servians, Roumanians, 
Croatians, Slavonians and Bohemians. For a Bohemian to 
publish a newspaper in his own language was a crime. The 
press was silenced and jury decisions were reversed by 
superior order. 



A.D. 1856-1860.] AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 67 

In. its measures of repression the government invoked 
the powerful cooperation of the Catholic Church. The 
Austrian bishops had declared "that sentiment of nation- 
ality was a relic of paganism ; that difference of languages 
was a consequence of the original fall of man." Hence all 
were to be Germanized! The concordat of 1855 placed all 
private and public education under the control of the 
bishops, and allowed the circulation of no book which had 
met ecclesiastical censure. It gave to the high clergy the 
right to imprison and inflict corporal penalties on whom 
they pleased, and for that end put at their disposal the 
governmental police. Prince Schwartzenberg had died in 
1852. But under Alexander Bach, minister of the interior 
and negotiator of the concordat, the dark ages settled down 
upon Austria. 

In the Crimean War Austria willingly played an ignoble 
part. She owed to the Tsar Nicholas an eternal debt, 
because he had rescued her in the Hungarian revolution. 
But she dreaded the might of Russia and would gladly see 
her crippled. Moreover, it was her interest to uphold the 
authority of the Sultan over his Christian subjects. Though 
ostensibly on the side of Great Britain and France, her 
dilatory tactics and irresolution angered the allies. When, 
by the alliance of France and Piedmont in 1859, Austria 
was swept out of Lombardy, she was reaping as she had 
sown. Her Bohemian and Hungarian subjects rejoiced in 
her reverses at Magenta and Solferino. In Bohemia the 
peasants said, " If we are defeated, we shall have a constitu- 
tion; if we are victorious, we shall have the Inquisition." 

The emperor had grown older and hence stronger and 
wiser. He dismissed Bach and ventured on some timid 
reforms (1860). Goluchowski, a Galician, neither German 
nor Hungarian, was called to the ministry and allowed to 
elaborate a partial charter. The Schmerling ministry was 
charged with its application. There was to be a Chamber 
of Nobles, named by the sovereign, and a Chamber of Depu- 
ties, named by the provincial Diets. But all was so devised 
as to swamp the other nationalities under the preponderance 
of the Germans. The scheme was a dismal failure. Vene- 
tia, Hungary, Transylvania and Croatia refused to send 
their representatives. The Hungarian leader, Deak, planted 
himself firmly on the abrogated Hungarian constitution of 
1848. The Hungarian legists asserted that Francis Joseph 



68 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1860-1866. 

was not legally their sovereign as he had never come to 
their country to be crowned. The emperor paid a formal 
visit to Pesth. He dismissed Schmerling from office and 
replaced him by Belcredi, a Moravian, who cared far less 
for the Germanization of the empire. Prague, Pesth and 
Lemberg illuminated as for victory. In Galicia they even 
dared to teach the Polish language in the schools. Hun- 
gary awoke to new life, and in its Diet openly demanded 
all the rights and privileges which the Emperor Ferdinand 
IV had granted. 

The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Political Reforms 
(1866). — The Austro-Prussian War, with its catastrophe of 
Saclowa, was in the end a blessing to Austria. Like Antseus, 
she rose the stronger for having been prostrated upon the 
ground. Her German inhabitants, as arrogant and self- 
assertive as before, remained to her, but her internal and 
foreign policy could never again be the same. She was no 
longer a German state. Even the loss of Venetia, though 
a humiliation, increased rather than diminished her 
strength. As long as Austria sought her centre of gravity 
outside herself, whether in Italy or Germany, she had 
defied with impunity all the aspirations of her subject 
races and had scoffed at their historic rights. Now it Avas 
forced upon the consciousness of the most obtuse that she 
must revolutionize all her antecedent policy or submit to 
speedy dissolution. The Emperor Francis Joseph keenly 
realized both the imminent perils and the rich possibilities 
of the situation. A new order of things could never be 
brought about by any statesman of his dominions, identified 
as was each of them with some grievance or faction. With 
insight akin to genius he discerned the man for the hour. 
He invited a foreigner and a Protestant, a former minister 
of Saxony, the Count von Beust, to accept the chancellor- 
ship and to undertake the complete reorganization — politi- 
cal, financial, military — of the most devotedly Eoman 
Catholic and hitherto the most reactionary empire in 
Europe. 

The new chancellor treated at once with the Hungarians. 
The terms of the Ausgleich or agreement with Hungary 
were submitted by a committee of sixty-seven members 
of the Magyar Diet, having at their head Francis Deak, 
"the Franklin of Hungary," the ablest, purest and most 
patriotic of her sons. Their first two proposals were, that 



a.d. 1867.] AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 69 

the emperor should recognize the independent existence of 
Hungary by giving her a ministry of her own and should 
himself be crowned as her king. Count Julius Andrassy, 
a political exile, who had been condemned to death for his 
share in the revolution of 1848, was appointed Hungarian 
prime minister (February 18, 1867). On June 8 the coro- 
nation of Francis Joseph at Pesth as king of Hungary was 
celebrated with all the ancient ceremony and pomp. 
Twenty days later he ratified the Ausgleich. The Hun- 
garian crown and stripe of green were added to the imperial 
flag, which ever since has indicated the dual monarchy. 

Every feature of the new political arrangement bore a 
dual character. The Ausgleich itself afforded a modus 
vivendi, but it was as much a formula of separation as a for- 
mula of union. It was like the hyphen dividing and join- 
ing the two words in the official title, Austro-Hungarian, 
by which the new empire was to be known. Henceforth 
there was Cisleithania or "Austria," a jumble of all the 
states and provinces supposed to be on the west of the 
Leitha, and Transleithania or " Hungary," another jumble of 
all the states and provinces on the east of that river. In 
each jumble there were two factors, a dominant and super- 
cilious minority — Magyar in Hungary, German in Austria 

— and an overborne and refractory majority. The only 
cord which fastened Cisleithania and Transleithania to- 
gether was possession of a common dynasty. Let that 
dynasty become extinct and at once they would fall apart. 
Affairs of foreign interest but common to the two — foreign 
relations, war, marine, imperial finances — were to be con- 
fided to an imperial cabinet responsible to the parliaments 
of the two states. Affairs of domestic common interest — 
coinage, customs-duties, military service, special legislation 

— were controlled by delegates of the two parliaments, 
sixty from each state, to meet alternately at Vienna and 
Pesth. Nor could these delegates do more than vote a 
temporary arrangement, a kind of contract, for ten years. 

Such a system was an anomaly, a political experiment 
without precedent. Hungary entered upon it with her 
revived liberal constitution of 1848. She assumed three- 
tenths of the public debt. Austria likewise possessed a 
liberal constitution, in its present form dating from 1867. 
The seventeen Austrian provinces had each its Landtag or 
legislative body. Above them rose the Reichsrath, con- 



70 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1867-1871. 

sisting of a house of lords and house of 203 deputies, elected 
by the seventeen Landtags. 

Hungary was appeased. The Austrian Germans were 
content, but a cry of indignation and rage went up from 
all the other peoples of the empire. The Slavs had re- 
ceived nothing but wordy concessions as to education and 
language, which were expected to be and were afterwards 
evaded. 

The Bohemians or Czechs had historic rights as ancient 
and a political entity as definite and distinct as the Magyars 
of Hungary. Nor were they far inferior to them in num- 
ber. But Count von Beust was seeking not justice but ex- 
pediency, and believed that, since two races were satisfied, 
he could ignore the rest. Bohemia, Moravia, Carniola, re- 
fused to send delegates to the Reichsrath. So skilfully had 
the electoral apportionments been manipulated that their 
abstention did not cause a deadlock, a minority of voters 
being represented by a quorum or majority of deputies. 
An ethnographic congress was then being held in Moscow 
(1867). It was natural that many Austrian Slavs should 
attend this family reunion of pan-Slavism. Their presence 
in the ancient metropolis of the Tsars produced a profound 
sensation all over Europe. 

Meanwhile the concordat was practically abrogated, civil 
marriage authorized, education taken from clerical control, 
the jury restored, the press partially emancipated, the right 
of public meetings guaranteed, and the army reorganized 
on the Prussian model. Some of these reforms became 
sharp-edged weapons in Slavic hands. On August 22, 1868, 
the Czech deputies issued their declaration. By this 
memorable document, which constitutes the platform of 
the Bohemian nation to-day, in calm and dignified language 
they set forth their rights and their demands. Encouraged 
by the emperor (September, 1871) they submitted a pro- 
gramme, called the Fundamental Articles, which proposed 
autonomy for Bohemia under Francis Joseph, who was to 
be crowned its king. The furious outcry of the Hungarians 
and Germans prevented its being carried into effect. 
Shortly afterwards the title of chancellor was suppressed. 
Von Beust was succeeded as minister of foreign affairs by 
Count Andrassy. Thus a Hungarian had become the min- 
isterial head of the dual empire. 

The Hungarians continued to treat their Slavic and other 



a.d. 1877-1878.] AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 71 

subjects as cruelly as the Austrians in their worst days had 
treated them. Their conception of freedom or toleration 
was limited to freedom and toleration for themselves. Dif- 
ference of religion inflamed the hatred of race. They re- 
garded the Croatians, Roumanians, Servians, Slovaks, not 
so much as members of other nationalities, but as dis- 
senters and heretics who must be Magyarized at any cost. 
Nor were they at first inclined to renew the Ausgleich with 
Austria when its first term of ten years expired. In both 
countries local matters continued to absorb the public mind 
until the insurrection in Herzegovina against the Sultan 
and the massacres in Bulgaria roused the attention of 
Europe and thrust the Eastern Question again to the front. 
Acquisition of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878). — In 1877, 
after having exhausted all the resources of diplomacy to 
end the horrors in Bulgaria, Russia declared war against 
the Sultan and invaded the Ottoman Empire. The Austro- 
Hungarian government was involved in extreme difficulty. 
Its Slavic, subjects sympathized keenly with their suffering 
brethren in Turkey and demanded cooperation with Russia. 
The Hungarians, blood kinsmen of the Turks, mindful of 
Turkish hospitality in 1849 and full of resentment against 
Russia, were as eager to cooperate with Turkey. General 
Klapka, the hero of Komorn, offered his services to the 
Sultan. The Turks were toasted and feasted at Pesth and 
the Russians at Prague. The Germans, dominant at 
Vienna, cared nothing for the Bulgarians. Above all, 
they dreaded the extension of Russian influence and terri- 
tory which was certain to result from the war. But the 
racial condition of their empire made neutrality a necessity. 
To side in arms with either belligerent would rend the 
monarchy in twain. Yet, anxious to make the most of a 
difficult situation, the government intended that its enforced 
neutrality should be paid for. A quasi promise was ob- 
tained from the Tsar that on the conclusion of peace he 
would not oppose the occupation of Bosnia and Herze- 
govina by Austria-Hungary. The Congress of Berlin (1878) 
authorized Austria to occupy and administer those prov- 
inces "in the name of the Sultan." Their conquest was 
bloody and costly. It added to the embarrassment of the 
empire even more than to its territory. It introduced a 
population difficult to amalgamate and increased the already 
threatening Slavic mass. 



72 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1878-1898. 

Austria-Hungary from 1878 to 1898. — Count Taaffe was 
minister-president from 1879 to 1893. An opportunist and 
a moderate, he endeavored to be hardly more than a politi- 
cal peacemaker. His efforts in that direction met little 
success, as did those of the Polish Count Badeni, who was 
in office from 1895 until November 30, 1897. Constantly 
the Austrian, and in less degree the Hungarian, parliament 
presented a scene of indescribable turbulence and confusion. 
Sometimes their disorder and lawlessness disgraced the 
name of legislation. Yet in their babel of languages and 
their bedlam of factional strife there was always something 
definite which the speaker or the party was seeking. What 
appeared to the ear or the eye mere wrangling was at bottom 
a serious assertion of principles, true or false, and a vindi- 
cation or denial of rights. Hardly anywhere else has per- 
sonality counted so little. 

Since October, 1895, Count Goluchowski, a Pole, has 
been minister of foreign affairs. To him more than to any 
other statesman is due the policy of concert, followed by 
the six great Powers in reference to the Armenian, Cretan 
and Greek questions of 1895-1897. 

Political Problems of To-day. — In more than one respect 
the Austro-Hungarian rather than the Ottoman Empire is 
the sick man of Europe. The antagonism of its races was 
never more pronounced than to-day and their interests 
never more divergent. The general advance of education 
renders each more able to secure those ends on which it is 
fiercely determined. Circumstances have made Austria- 
Hungary a migratory state upon the map, moving toward 
the south and east. But farther progress in that direction 
is checked by the vigorous youthful states along the Dan- 
ube and the Balkans, while further disintegration is prob- 
able on the north and southwest. Yet her internal weakness 
is not so manifest as in the dark days when the present 
sovereign assumed his crown. 



a.d. 1825-1855.] BUSSIA 73 



RUSSIA 

Nicholas I (1825-1855). — As ruler of Eussia the Tsar 
Nicholas during his reign of thirty years exercised a three- 
fold influence upon European politics. First, as heir, not 
only to the victorious empire, but to the ideas of his 
brother, Alexander I, he was the acknowledged head of the 
absolutist or reactionary party throughout Europe. Sec- 
ond, as sovereign of the largest Slavic state, he was the 
hope of an awakening pan-Slavism, that should reunite 
Slavic tribes. The overthrow and absorption of Poland, 
the second largest Slavic state, after an intermittent war- 
fare of centuries between her and Russia, was congenial to 
the other Slavs. It was among the Western states that she 
found most sympathizers and not among peoples of the 
same blood. Third, as sovereign of the empire of ortho- 
doxy, he was regarded, and regarded himself, as of right 
the protector and champion of his coreligionists, subjects 
of other rulers, specially of the Greek Orthodox Christians, 
subjects of the Sultan of Turkey. 

This presumed right of a Eussian Tsar had been recog- 
nized by treaties, such as those of Kai'nardji (1774), Yassi 
(1792), Adrianople (1829) and Hunkiar Iskelessi (1833), 
with the Ottoman Empire. In this respect Nicholas was 
the legitimate successor of Peter the Great. Yet unlike 
Peter he detested Western civilization. A young man of 
eighteen at the time of the French invasion, the horrors 
and the triumph of that gigantic struggle were burned into 
his soul. Russia unaided had then annihilated the hosts 
of the hitherto invincible Napoleon. It is not strange if 
Nicholas thought that Eussia could withstand the world. 
By his accession in 1825, just a century after the death of 
the great Tsar, the Muscovite Empire, for the first time in 
a hundred years, had a sovereign who was wholly Eussian 
at heart and who believed only in Eussia. The Eussians 
adored him with such loyalty as no other ruler of the house 



74 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1851-1853. 

of Eomanoff had received. His unlooked-for advent to the 
throne was regarded as the special interposition of Provi- 
dence. His brother, Constantine, seventeen years his 
senior, was the natural heir of Alexander I. But Con- 
stantine in 1820 had become devotedly attached to the 
Polish Countess Groudsinska. He could marry her only 
on condition of renouncing his rights of inheritance. He 
preferred the hand of the lady to the crown of Eussia. 
"That, surely," said the peasants, "must have come from 
God." 

The Crimean War (1853-1856). — Its apparent cause 
was a contention between Greek Orthodox and Latin 
priests as to the custody of certain holy places in Jerusa- 
lem (1851). The former were supported by Russia and 
the latter by France and Austria. A mixed commission to 
examine the matter was appointed by Sultan Abd-ul Medjid, 
which, while giving a temperate report, on the whole fa- 
vored the Latins. The Russians and the Greek Orthodox 
rayahs of Turkey were indignant at the decision. It was a 
general Eastern superstition that the year 1853, which 
completed four centuries from the capture of Constanti- 
nople, would see the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. 
The Tsar believed all things were propitious to hasten that 
event. 

He held two secret interviews (January 9 and 14, 1853) 
with Sir Hamilton Seymour, the British ambassador at St. 
Petersburg, wherein he spoke without reserve and asked 
the cooperation of Great Britain. He proposed to unite 
the Danubian provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia into an 
independent state under the protection of Russia, and 
create two states of Servia and Bulgaria. He said nothing 
definite about Constantinople, but offered Crete and Egypt 
to Great Britain. It is interesting to remark that, with 
the exception of Crete, whose destiny is still undecided, the 
other propositions of the Tsar have become facts. "If 
we agree, " he said, " I care little what the others " — 
France and Austria — "may do." The British ambassa- 
dor shrewdly made public all that had been said to him in 
confidence. "The others" were enraged at the small 
account taken of them rather than at the propositions. 

In May, 1853, Prince Mentchikoff was sent to Constan- 
tinople with a peremptory note, demanding that the com- 
plaints of Russian pilgrims to the Holy Land receive 



a.d. 1853-1856.] RUSSIA 75 

satisfaction and that guarantees be given for the protection 
of the Greek Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire. 
Lord Stratford de Redeliffe, British ambassador to the 
Porte from 1842 to 1858, encouraged the Sultan to refuse 
compliance. The Russian armies crossed the Pruth and 
occupied the principalities. To avert war the Austrian 
government drew up the "Vienna Note," which was ap- 
proved by France and Great Britain and accepted by Russia. 
But the British ambassador at Constantinople secured its 
rejection by the Sultan and persuaded him to take reso- 
lute action. The Porte delivered an ultimatum to Russia 
(September 26) and declared war (October 4). 

The subsequent events of the struggle and its conclusion 
in the treaty of Paris are narrated in the chapter on the 
"Second French Empire." Nicholas had been outwitted 
in diplomacy and defeated in arms. Broken-hearted and 
disillusioned, even before the capture of Sebastopol, the 
"iron emperor" gave way. Sick and suffering, he com- 
mitted imprudences which can only be explained as a 
desire to hasten his end. He himself dictated the despatch 
which he sent to all the great cities of Russia, " The em- 
peror is dying," and expired on March 2, 1855. 

The disasters of the Crimea had been a cruel revelation, 
not only to him but to his subjects. His army and his 
people had supposed they were to revolutionize the East, 
indefinitely extend their empire, and drive out the crescent 
from Jerusalem. Instead, they were obliged to dismantle 
their own fortresses and withdraw their warships from the 
Black Sea. Nothing however had occurred to disprove 
their proud boast that, should any hostile nation really 
penetrate Russia, its sovereign would there lose his crown 
like Charles XII and Napoleon the Great, and its army 
would leave there its bones. 

Alexander II (1855-1881). —"Your burden will be 
heavy," his father had said to him when dying. To 
bear this burden nature had well fitted the new Tsar. 
Though devoted to his father's memory, he realized that 
his father's system had been found wanting and that 
another epoch must open in Russia. Everywhere there 
was the sullen rumble of discontent. Of mediocre ability, 
self-distrustful rather than headstrong, just, patient and 
plodding, he desired to inaugurate a new era. He deter- 
mined to reform where it was possible and to mitigate what 



76 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1856-1861. 

he could not reform. In his manifesto immediately after 
the conclusion of peace he outlined his policy almost with 
boldness. The corruption and inefficiency of administra- 
tion had been protected by a muzzled press, by a rigorous 
police and by a compulsory silence on the part of the people. 
He encouraged freedom of speech and thought. "The 
conservative Eussia of Nicholas I seemed buried under the 
sod. Every one declared himself a liberal." Public 
opinion wished to undertake every reform at once, but the 
question of social reform dominated all others. 

There were then 47,200,000 serfs, divided into two great 
classes. Of these 24,700,000, dependent upon the crown, 
enjoyed a large degree of personal freedom. They exer- 
cised local self-government, administered their own affairs 
in communes, or mirs, by an elected council, and possessed 
tribunals which they had themselves chosen. The prohi- 
bition to dispose of or acquire property and to remove from 
the place of birth was abolished by successive ukases, be- 
ginning July, 1858. 

The other 22,500,000 serfs, the "disposition" of 120,000 
nobles, were hardly better than slaves. The system had 
grown up strangely when Eussia was bowed under the Tar- 
tar yoke, but it had been introduced by native princes 
and not by foreigners. Gradually the preceding Tsars or 
dukes of Moscow had imposed their absolute will on their 
vassals, the nobles, and the nobles had succeeded in doing 
the same to their vassals, the peasants or serfs, only more 
effectually. These aristocratic usurpations had been even 
confirmed and the mujik still further restricted by suc- 
cessive ukases during two centuries. Alexander I and 
Nicholas I himself had vainly tried to modify the iniqui- 
tous system. Innumerable difficulties stood in the way. 
Who should indemnify the proprietors for their loss? What 
was the advantage of freedom to emancipated serfs who 
could possess nothing of their own? 

In March, 1856, Alexander II invited his " faithful no- 
bility " to consider what steps were necessary to bring about 
emancipation. His suggestions were coldly received. He 
travelled over the country, appealing to the nobles to assist 
him, but their inertia was harder to overcome than active 
opposition. Finally, he issued his immortal edict of 
emancipation (March 3, 1861). Thus by a stroke of the 
pen, the serfs, hitherto fastened to the soil, were raised to 



AJ5. 1861-1871.] RUSSIA 77 

the rank of freemen. Provision was made for their acquir- 
ing property and for the protection of their newly granted 
liberty. But a change so radical was accompanied by local 
disturbances and bloodshed. 

An annual statement of the public finances began to be 
made. The universities were delivered from the restric- 
tions imposed by Nicholas. Foreigners acquired the same 
rights as were enjoyed by Russians abroad. Censorship 
of the press had been already relaxed. The use of the 
knout was abolished. Such Jews as exercised any manual 
occupation received permission to settle freely in the 
empire. 

Reforms were likewise introduced into the administration 
of Poland. But the spirit of nationality was not extinct 
and nothing less than independence could satisfy the Poles. 
Further concessions accomplished little. The troubles 
went on increasing until January, 1863, when they took the 
form of guerilla warfare. Resistance was cruelly put down. 
The insurrection cost dearly to Poland. The last remains 
of her national life were stamped out. Polish was replaced 
by Russian as the official language and was forbidden in the 
schools. Ardent Slavophils wished likewise to Russify 
Finland, but the Tsar confirmed all its political privileges. 
Livonia, Esthonia and Courland were not disquieted but 
continued to exist as vassal provinces, with their own lan- 
guage and laws, under the Russian crown. 

Meanwhile the war in America was going on for the 
preservation of the Union. Russia was pronounced and 
outspoken in friendliness to the United States. The firm 
and consistent course pursued by her, when other powers 
were desirous of our national dissolution, is something 
which Americans cannot forget. 

Revision of the Treaty of Paris (1871). —In 1870 Prince 
Gortschakoff, the Russian chancellor, informed the Euro- 
pean Powers that Russia no longer considered herself bound 
by the Treaty of Paris as far as it curtailed her natural 
rights on the Black Sea. Various infractions of that treaty 
were assigned as reasons for this declaration. A conference 
of the signatory states at London accepted the declaration 
of Russia. Thus the most important result of the Crimean 
War was annulled. Russia has since been free to construct 
such fortifications as she pleased upon the shores of the 
Black Sea and to maintain a navy upon its waters. This 



78 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1872-1876. 

right was furthermore ratified by an agreement with Turkey 
(March 18, 1872). 

The Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). —The promises of 
the Sultan to introduce reform in the treatment of his 
Christian subjects had been flagrantly and constantly broken. 
Protected by the Treaty of Paris, wherein the Powers had 
waived all right to interfere in the internal affairs of the 
Ottoman Empire, the Turks were no longer influenced by 
the restraint of fear. In 1874 the Slavic rayahs of Bosnia 
and Herzegovina rebelled. Again the Sultan promised 
reforms, but the insurgents demanded guarantees that he 
would keep his word. To prevent the flames of insurrec- 
tion from spreading, Count Andrassy, the Austro-Hunga- 
rian chancellor, obtained the Sultan's approval to certain 
measures enumerated in a formal note (February 12, 1876), 
but the insurgents were still distrustful. Suddenly the 
consuls of Germany and France at Salonica were massacred 
by a Mussulman mob. Eussia, Germany and Austria united 
in the memorandum of Berlin (May 1), demanding of the 
Sultan a two months' armistice with the Bosnians and 
Herzegovinians and immediate introduction of the reforms. 
They threatened the employment of force in case of refusal. 
Encouraged by the support of Great Britain, who refused to 
approve the memorandum, the Sultan withheld his consent. 

The horrors of Bulgaria broke out, where more than 
20,000 Bulgarians were massacred. Public meetings in 
Great Britain denounced the atrocities. Servia and Mon- 
tenegro took up arms. The latter was victorious. The 
former was totally defeated, though the Servian army con- 
tained many Russian volunteers and was commanded by the 
Russian General Tchernaieff. Alexander II and the Rus- 
sian official party wished to avoid war, though the Tsar in 
a speech at Moscow (November 12) openly expressed his 
sympathy for the Christians. France and Germany held 
themselves aloof. Austria did her utmost to preserve 
peace. Great Britain proposed a conference of the Powers 
at Constantinople, which met on November 23. It pre- 
sented an ultimatum, requiring the autonomy of Bosnia, 
Herzegovina and Bulgaria, concessions of territory to 
Montenegro, the status quo for Servia, a general amnesty, 
genuine reform in Turkish administration and judiciary, 
and the nomination by the great Powers of two commis- 
sions to see that the promises were carried out. In case of 



a.d. 1877-1878.] RUSSIA 79 

refusal all the ambassadors were to demand their passports. 
Sultan Abd-ul Hamid II was on the throne, his predeces- 
sors, Sultan Abd-ul Aziz and Sultan Mourad V, having been 
overthrown that same year by revolution. The astute 
Midhat Pasha was grand vizier. Again encouraged by the 
British ambassador, the Sultan refused to comply. 

No Power was willing to act, though the ambassadors in 
a body had formally left Constantinople. Midhat Pasha 
signed a treaty with Servia, but Montenegro held out. 
Prince Gortschakoff sent a circular note to the European 
courts (January 31) and General Ignatieff, the Russian 
ambassador, travelled over Europe to induce united action. 
The protocol of London (March 31) invited the Sultan to 
disarm, and announced, that if he continued to violate 
his promises of reform, the great Powers would consult 
further. 

Nothing had been accomplished. The resources of a 
diplomacy of words were exhausted. Turkey was still in- 
different or defiant. In Eussia the Tsar and the official 
classes still hesitated, but the Russian people were aflame. 
Public sentiment, even in a despotic empire, could not be 
resisted. The same forces of humanity and sympathy, 
which compelled the American government to take up 
arms in the effort to end the horrors in Cuba, compelled 
the reluctant Tsar to take up arms to end longer-con- 
tinued and more atrocious horrors in the dominions of 
the Sultan. The Russian war of 1877-1878 against Turkey 
finds its exact parallel in the American war of 1898 against 
Spain. Both were spontaneous armed uprisings in behalf 
of mankind. 

The Tsar issued his manifesto on April 24, 1877. The 
war lasted until the preliminary treaty of San Stephano 
on March 3, 1878. It was carried on in both Asia and 
Europe. 

In Asia the Russian general-in-chief, the Armenian 
Loris Melikoff, captured Ardahan (May 17). General Der 
Hougassoff, also an Armenian, took Bayezid (April 20) and 
gained the battles of Dram Dagh (June 10) and Dai'ar 
(June 21). Melikoff, defeated at Zewin (June 26) by 
Mouktar Pasha, was obliged to retreat. The Russians 
received reenforcements. Mouktar Pasha was crushed at 
Aladja Dagh (October 14-16) and driven into Erzeroum. 
J£ars was stormed (November 18) and fell with 17, 000 pris- 



80 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1877-1878. 

oners and 300 cannon. The road to Constantinople through 
Asia Minor was open. 

In Europe Abd-ul Kerim Pasha, Turkish commander-in- 
chief, remained apathetic in his camp at Shoumla. The 
main Eussian army crossed the Danube at Sistova (June 27). 
Baron von Kriidener took Nicopolis with 7000 prisoners, 113 
cannon and two monitors (July 15). General Gourko at- 
tacked the Turks in the Balkans and seized the Shipka Pass 
(July 17-19). Panic reigned at Constantinople. The Ot- 
toman Minister of War, Redif Pasha, who had proclaimed 
the Holy War, was removed. Abd-ul Kerim Pasha was re- 
placed by Mehemet Ali Pasha, the son of a German tailor 
converted to Islam. Soulei'man Pasha was recalled from 
Montenegro to protect the capital. Jealousy prevented 
cooperation among the Ottoman generals. Soulei'man 
Pasha dashed his army against the Russians and the Bul- 
garian legion in vain attempts to regain the Shipka Pass 
(August 16 and September 17). Mehemet Ali Pasha was 
terribly defeated at Tserkoria (September 21). Osman 
Pasha was forced into Plevna (August 31). There he de- 
fended himself with skill and bravery. But his capitula- 
tion was only a question of time. General Todleben, who 
had fortified Sebastopol in the Crimean war, took charge of 
the siege. Skobeleff and Gourko cut off all communication. 
The Roumanians, who had declared themselves independent 
and had joined the Russians with 60,000 men, performed 
prodigies of valor. By a general sortie Osman Pasha tried 
to break through the iron circle, but was forced to surrender 
with 43,000 soldiers (December 10). The siege had lasted 
almost four months. The Sultan now wished to treat for 
peace, but was persuaded by the British ambassador, Sir 
Austin Layard, to continue the war. Soulei'man Pasha re- 
placed Mehemet Ali Pasha and gained a tardy victory at 
Elena (November 20). 

The famous Turkish quadrilateral of Silistria, Roust- 
chouk, Shoumla and Varna was still intact. Already the 
mountain passes were blocked with snow. An unusually 
severe season had begun. The Turks supposed that hostili- 
ties would cease until spring. The Grand Duke Nicholas 
ordered General Gourko to force the Balkans. Then fol- 
lowed a magnificent winter campaign along ravines and 
precipices, where the soldiers themselves dragged the 
cannon. The astounded Turks were everywhere defeated. 



A.D. 1878.] RUSSIA 81 

Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, which had not seen a Chris- 
tian army for 400 years, was entered. (January 3, 1878). Six 
days later Wessir Pasha surrendered with 32,000 men and 
sixty-six cannon. 

The Ottoman Empire seemed entering its death agony. 
The Servians had declared war. Thessaly, Macedonia and 
Albania were in open rebellion. The Cretans were tumult- 
ously demanding union with Greece. The Greek army 
crossed the frontier. The Montenegrins captured fortress 
after fortress in the west. The Russians effected their 
junction at Adrianople (January 20) and reached the Mar- 
mora on January 31. That same day an armistice was 
signed at Adrianople. It was time. To oppose the ad- 
vance of the invaders the Sultan had only a corps of 12,000 
men, camped on the hills of Tchataldja, an easy day's 
march from the capital. 

The rapid Russian successes produced intense excitement 
in Great Britain. The government made vigorous prepara- 
tions for -war. The British fleet passed the Dardanelles and 
anchored close to Constantinople (February 14). There- 
upon the Grand Duke Nicholas advanced to San Stephano, 
seven miles from the city walls. 

On March 3 the Russian and Ottoman plenipotentiaries 
signed the preliminary treaty of San Stephano. It recog- 
nized the independence of both Roumania and Servia. The 
latter was enlarged by the district of Nisch. The former 
received the Dobroudja in exchange for Bessarabia, which 
was restored to Russia as before the Crimean war. Mon- 
tenegro gained the ports of Spizza and Antivari on the 
Adriatic and more than doubled its territory. In Asia 
Russia was confirmed in the possession of the eastern quad- 
rilateral, Kars, Ardahan, Bayezid and Batoum. The Turks 
were condemned to pay a war indemnity of 300,000,000 
roubles. Bulgaria was created a vassal principality of the 
Sultan. It was to extend from the Danube to the J5gean 
Sea, thus cutting in twain the still remaining Turkish pos- 
sessions in Europe. Never had the Ottoman Empire signed 
a treaty as fatal. 

The Congress of Berlin (1878). — The preliminary treaty 
of San Stephano terrified Austria, who saw aggrandized 
Slavic states on her southwest frontier neighboring upon 
her own Slavic peoples. It enraged Great Britain, who saw 
in it the practical extinction of the Ottoman Empire. But 



82 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1878. 

Austria was held in check by Germany. Great Britain, 
though unable to put a large army into the field, employed 
every weapon known to diplomacy. Russia was neither 
desirous of nor prepared for further war. After much ne- 
gotiation with the courts of Great Britain and Germany, 
she agreed to submit the treaty to a congress of the Powers 
at Berlin. A secret agreement however had just been ar- 
rived at for their two governments by Count Schouvaloff 
and Lord Salisbury. 

The congress opened on June 13 and continued in session 
just one month. The nations were represented by their 
ablest and most illustrious statesmen. Among the dele- 
gates were Count Andrassy, Austro-Hungarian Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, Monsieur Waddington from France, Count 
Corti from Italy, Mehemet Ali Pasha and Caratheodoridi 
Pasha from Turkey, Lord Salisbury from Great Britain and 
Count Schouvaloff from Russia. The three most conspicu- 
ous figures were Prince Bismarck, who presided, Prince 
Gortschakoff, chancellor of Russia, and Lord Beaconsfield, 
prime minister of Great Britain. 

The treaty of Berlin much reduced the size of the pro- 
posed Bulgaria. It also divided it in two : " Principality 
of Bulgaria," between the Danube and the Balkans, an 
autonomous state tributary to the Sultan; "Province of 
Eastern Roumelia," extending south of the Balkans half- 
way to the iEgean Sea. The latter, though under a Chris- 
tian governor, was to depend directly upon the Sultan. 
The independence of Roumania and Servia was recognized, 
but, as in the case of the always independent Montenegro, 
their proposed acquisitions were diminished. Bosnia and 
Herzegovina were assigned to Austria. The wish was ex- 
pressed, though not inserted in the treaty, that the Sultan 
make certain concessions of territory to the Greeks. As 
to the Christian subjects of the Sultan, the congress con- 
tented itself with a repetition of his familiar promises to 
introduce reforms. In Asia Khotour was ceded to Persia, 
and the Russians restored Bayezid to Turkey, though retain- 
ing Kars, Batoum and Ardahan. 

During the session the revelation was made of a secret 
treaty for defensive alliance between Great Britain and 
Turkey, which had been concluded on the preceding 4th 
of June. In this secret treaty Great Britain agreed to unite 
in arms with the Sultan in defense of the Ottoman Empire 



A.D. 1878.] RUSSIA 83 

in case it should ever be attacked by Russia. In return the 
Sultan promised to assign the island of Cyprus to Great 
Britain and to introduce the necessary reforms in the treat- 
ment of his Christian subjects — such reforms to be deter- 
mined later by the two Powers. 

The congress of Berlin, not only in the very fact of its 
existence but in its decisions, was a diplomatic defeat for 
Russia. Her main object, the deliverance of Bulgaria, was 
indeed attained, but this Bulgaria was torn asunder and 
shorn of its strength. Great Britain and Austria without 
fighting had gained : the one, Cyprus and preponderance in 
Asia Minor; and the other, Bosnia and Herzegovina, ad- 
vancement on the road to Salonica and hence direct influ- 
ence over Montenegro and Servia. The Turkish Empire had 
been rescued from destruction, its existence prolonged and 
further opportunity afforded for future outrage and mas- 
sacre. For Beaconsfield and Great Britain that congress 
was a striking but none the less a deplorable triumph. 

The Nihilists. — The reforms after the accession of Alex- 
ander II had come upon the people like a galvanic shock. 
However warmly, though vaguely, desired, their application 
caused everywhere dissatisfaction. The ingrained despotic 
system had vitiated every activity of life. The serfs were 
dissatisfied because they had not gained more. The nobles 
were sullen because, when dispossessed of their serfs, their 
revenues were curtailed. The hosts of students from the 
humbler classes, attracted by scholarships or purses to the 
universities and newly opened colleges, found on comple- 
tion of their studies that all the civil and official positions 
were already occupied by the privileged and themselves 
shut out. Everywhere there was discontent, like morbid 
soreness of the body ready to propagate political disease. 

The irresolute Tsar was discouraged. Some proposed 
reforms he withheld and others he partially withdrew. The 
government tried to relax and tighten the reins at the same 
time. Reaction set in, and the counter reaction was nihil- 
ism. Russian nihilism could resemble the mad vagaries of 
no other country, for it was stamped with the peculiarities 
of the Russian mind. Though the nihilist considered Rus- 
sia diseased, he looked upon all other lands as equally or 
still more rotten. In Russia he saw nothing worth the 
keeping, and in the rest of the world he saw nothing worth 
the taking. Some of the nihilists were theorists and 



84 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1880. 

dreamers. Others, the more daring and dangerous, were 
revolutionists. Their ranks were recruited by men and 
women from the universities, who were maddened by en- 
forced idleness and poverty and social wrongs. Never 
numerous, their almost inhuman activity multiplied their 
numbers in common opinion. Their contempt for death 
gave them horrible efficiency. Tracked and hunted like 
wild beasts, they surpassed wild beasts in merciless ferocity. 
For years Eussia was mined and countermined by them and 
their terrible antagonists, the secret police of the dreaded 
third section. 

Assassinations and attempts at assassination followed 
fast. Matveeff, rector of the university of Kiev, Mezent- 
seff, chief of the third section, Prince Krapotkine, governor 
of Kharkof, Colonel Knoop at Odessa, Captain Eeinstein at 
Moscow, Pietrovski, chief of police at Archangel, and scores 
of prominent persons were stabbed or shot. An attempt 
was made to blow up the imperial family with dynamite at 
the winter palace (1880). The explosion killed sixty sol- 
diers and wounded forty. The Tsarina died in June, 1880. 
The nihilists matured their plans to blow up the bridge 
over which the funeral cortege was to pass and destroy the 
imperial hearse with all the mourners, the foreign princes 
and guards. A sudden storm so swelled the waters of the 
Neva as to prevent the execution of the plot. 

On December 4, 1879, the Nihilist Executive Committee 
sent the Tsar his sentence of death, but for a long time 
every effort to put it in execution failed. In February, 
1881, he submitted the scheme of a constitution to a coun- 
cil. On March 9 he gave the elaborated form his approval, 
but, hesitating still, delayed its proclamation. On the 
morning of March 13 he sent the order for its publication 
in the official messenger. That afternoon, while riding, a 
bomb was thrown against his carriage. Many soldiers and 
pedestrians were killed, but the emperor was unharmed. 
"Let me see the wounded," he exclaimed, and sprang from 
his carriage. Instantly a second bomb was thrown at him. 
Horribly mutilated, he was borne to his palace, where he 
expired without uttering a word. 

In 1861 he had emancipated the serfs. In 1878 he had 
freed Bulgaria. At the moment of his death the Consti- 
tution which he had granted was being set in type. It is a 
strange and sad coincidence that the two liberators, the 



A.d. 1881-1882.] RUSSIA 85 

president who freed the slaves in the United States and the 
Tsar who freed the serfs in Russia, should both perish by 
the hand of an assassin. 

Reign of Alexander III (1881-1894). —Alexander III 
had to choose between two roads. Should he follow the 
progressive policy of his father and confirm the still un- 
published constitution, or should he set his face backward 
and reign like Nicholas I? "Change none of my father's 
orders, " he said at first. " It " — the Constitution — " shall 
be his last will and testament." Unhappily for Russia such 
sentiments did not last. In Pobiedonostseff, High Procu- 
rator of the Holy Synod, a reactionary fanatic of spotless 
integrity, and the Slavophil, General Ignatieff, he found 
congenial counsellors. The Constitution was withheld. The 
temperate and humane General Melikoff, the trusted friend 
of his father, tendered his resignation. General Ignatieff 
was made Minister of the Interior. 

The day of absolutism, espionage and Russification by 
force had come back. The government endeavored in do- 
mestic affairs to undo all that Alexander II had done. 
Hatred of everything foreign was the mode. Katkoff, the 
violent editor of the Moscow Gazette, was allowed the utmost 
latitude, because he so fully expressed all the dynastic and 
popular passions of the hour. Never was Russian intoler- 
ance manifested in more annoying ways and with greater 
severity. The treatment of the Jews was a disgrace to hu- 
manity. They were forbidden to own or lease land or to 
exercise any liberal profession. They were ordered to con- 
centrate in a few western provinces so as to be more 
easily watched. More than 300,000 emigrated. The gov- 
ernment was no more cruel than the people. In Balta the 
peasants without provocation sacked 976 Jewish houses and 
killed or wounded 219 Jews. The Lutherans and Dis- 
senters were treated unmercifully. At last even General 
Ignatieff was shocked or alarmed, and proposed moderation. 

Prince Gortschakoff, at the age of eighty-two, asked to 
be relieved from his duties as chancellor (1882). As his 
successor the war party desired General Ignatieff, the peace 
party M. de Giers. Despite its antipathy for Europe, the 
foreign policy of the government was pacific. M. de Giers 
was appointed. His rival, in chagrin, withdrew to private 
life. Count Tolstoi' was made Minister of the Interior and 
under him the anti-Semitic agitation was sternly repressed. 



86 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1883-1896. 

Improvement in the public finances, brought about by 
Vichnegradzy, the Minister of Finance, is almost the only 
alleviation in this dismal reign. 

The nihilists, boastful of their success in " removing " a 
Tsar, continued their work. They held Russia in such 
terrorism that the coronation of Alexander III had been 
postponed almost two years. The Tsar had distinguished 
himself as a soldier in the Russo-Turkish war, but his life 
on the throne was passed in constant fear of assassination. 
Immediately on accession he had appointed his brother, 
Vladimir, to serve as regent in case of necessity. Cease- 
less watchfulness and dread sapped his strength. The long 
illness from which he finally died (October 31, 1894) was 
largely due to the incessant attempts of the nihilists upon 
his life. 

Nicholas II (1894- ). — Though at first apparently 
desirous of following in his father's steps, he soon showed 
himself awake to the spirit of the age. On November 27 
at St. Petersburg he married the Princess Alix of Hesse, 
granddaughter of Queen Victoria. All the troops and police 
were withdrawn from the streets. The people were allowed 
without restraint to climb the lamp-posts and trees and 
crowd the windows along the route of the bridal procession. 
Such freedom on such an occasion had never been known in 
Russia. This manifest confidence in his subjects made a 
profound impression and won him immense popularity. In 
the formal visits of the imperial consorts to different parts 
of the empire the same shrewd etiquette of confidence has 
been followed. 

On the death of M. de Giers (January, 1895), who had 
been the real director of Russian foreign policy since the 
treaty of Berlin, Prince Lobanoff became Minister of Foreign 
Affairs and proved himself equally pacific. The serious 
Pamir difficulty as to the boundary between the British 
and Russian Asiatic possessions was settled in a manner 
honorable to both countries. 

The splendor of the coronation ceremonies at Moscow 
(May 20, 1896) was darkened by a terrible catastrophe. 
Over 400,000 people had crowded together on the Khodyn- 
skoye plain to feast as guests of the Tsar. Insufficient 
police were present to control the immense mass. In the 
crush over 3000 persons were suffocated or trampled to 
death. In his coronation manifesto the Tsar announced 



A.». 1896-1898.] RUSSIA 87 

that the land tax was diminished one-half and that a com- 
prehensive amnesty had been granted to political offenders. 
Soon afterward Nicholas II and the Tsarina visited Austria- 
Hungary, Great Britain, France and Germany. 

In 1897 the Tsar was received with enthusiasm at War- 
saw. As a token of his appreciation he granted permission 
for the erection of a statue to Mickievitch, the patriot poet 
whose songs had inspired the Poles in their former resist- 
ance to Russia. In the same year for the first time a gen- 
eral census of the empire was undertaken. 

The present of Russia is full of hope. A more enlight- 
ened spirit is making its way among the government and 
people. Nihilism for a time at least is silent or has dis- 
appeared. Slowly, but none the less surely, the condition 
of the serfs is improving. The energies of the country are 
concentrating in industrial and commercial channels and its 
limitless natural resources being utilized. 

With progress at home is coupled a parallel advance of 
Russian influence abroad. To-day that influence in a strik- 
ing manner is being exerted in behalf of the world's 
tranquillity and peace. On August 28, 1898, the Russian 
government communicated to the courts of Europe one of 
the most memorable State papers ever issued. This docu- 
ment in graphic language set forth the terrible burden 
imposed by the existence of vast standing armies and by 
national rivalry in military armaments. It deplored the 
waste of men and material resources, consequent on this 
unnatural condition of affairs. It declared that " the 
supreme duty to-day imposed upon all States" is "to put 
an end to these incessant armaments and to seek the means 
of warding off the calamities which are threatening the 
whole world." In dignified terms, such as a mighty empire 
dreading no superior alone could use, it proposed a con- 
ference of all the Powers " to occupy itself with this grave 
problem of universal peace." Whatever the outcome of the 
conference, the proposition is a blessed augury for the 
twentieth century. 



88 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1839. 



XI 

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 

The Hatti Sherif of Ghul Khaneh (1839).— Two days 
after the battle of Nezib, while the victorious Egyptians 
were marching upon Constantinople, Sultan Mahmoud died. 
Only the interference of the European powers checked their 
advance and preserved the throne to his son, Sultan Abd-ul 
Medjid. Though failing in almost every enterprise he 
undertook, Mahmoud had made earnest efforts to reform 
the empire. His successor inherited his ideas. At the 
summer palace of Ghul Khaneh, in the presence of the 
foreign diplomatic body, of the heads of the various sub- 
ject churches, of deputations from all the guilds, and of the 
great dignitaries, ecclesiastical, military and civil, of the 
Ottoman state, his Hatti Sherif, or Sacred Proclamation, 
was read by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Reshid Pasha 
(November 3, 1839). Everything was done to give solem- 
nity and a binding character to this rescript. It concluded 
with a prayer and an imprecation, and the vast assembly of 
Moslems, Christians and Jews responded "Amen." 

This was the first formal acknowledgment of abuses and 
the first official declaration of a purpose to reform that was 
ever made by an Ottoman sovereign. It guaranteed security 
of life, property and honor to all subjects of the empire, a 
uniform and just taxation and uniformity in conscription 
and military service. It suppressed monopolies, pro- 
nounced that all court trials be public, removed restrictions 
from the sale and purchase of real estate, and ordered that 
the property of criminals be no longer confiscated but 
handed over to their natural heirs. These measures were 
aimed at correcting those violations of justice from which 
Christians and Mussulmans suffered in common. Its most 
important provision declared that henceforth Mussulman 
and Christian subjects should be equal before the law. 
Hitherto the theory and practice since the foundation of 
the empire had been flagrant inequality between the adhe- 



A.D. 1840-1854.] TEE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 89 

rents of the two religions. For example, the testimony of a 
Christian was not admissible in court against a Mussulman. 
A Christian could only hire Mussulman witnesses, who 
were allowed to testify for him. 

The Christians regarded the Hatti Sherif with mixed 
hope and incredulity. It enraged the Mussulmans, who 
believed that equality between them and the giaours was a 
contradiction of the Koran as well as of all their past his- 
tory. But in Christian Europe, accustomed to see promises 
followed by deeds, it caused a profound and favorable 
impression. 

Massacres in the Lebanon (1845). — The Sultan, well 
meaning but feeble, made only desultory efforts to put his 
proclamation into effect. In most localities it remained a 
dead letter. In others it stirred up the Moslems to prove 
that there had been no change in the old order. The region 
of Lebanon was inhabited by many religious sects. Among 
the more powerful were the Catholic Maronites, who enjoyed 
the protection of France, and the Druses, a wild tribe of 
heretical Mussulmans, followers of the mad Caliph Hakim. 
Under their leader, the Sheik Abou Naked, the Druses 
made a sudden attack. His followers had strict orders to 
harm only the Catholics, for then as always there was 
method in a Mussulman massacre. Every conceivable 
horror marked the passage of the bandit chief. He spared 
neither sex nor age. The government forbade the Maron- 
ites to defend themselves, but told them to trust in the 
padishah. The Turkish soldiers, sent to preserve order, 
remained inactive or openly sided with the Druses. The 
French missionary stations were destroyed, their churches 
and convents sacked and priests murdered. M. Guizot, 
then prime minister of France, dared not interfere. The 
French ambassador at Constantinople, M. de Bourqueney, 
was bolder. He sent a peremptory message to the Porte. 
The massacres ceased. New measures for the administra- 
tion of the Lebanon were introduced and a degree of tran- 
quillity was restored. 

Question of the Holy Places. The Crimean War (1853- 
1856). — This subject has been sufficiently discussed in the 
chapters on the second French empire and Russia. Save 
at its beginning the Turks played an insignificant and 
humiliating part in the war. Their assistance seemed as 
much disdained by the British and French troops as their 



90 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1855-1858. 

resistance had been by the Russians. Before the arrival of 
their allies the Ottoman commander-in-chief, Omar Pasha, 
a Christian renegade, had shown ability on the Danube. 
The successful defence of Silistria, where six assaults of the 
Russian army were repulsed, was honorable to Turkish 
arms. In signing the offensive and defensive treaty with 
Great Britain and France, the Porte promised to accomplish 
the following reforms : " Equality before the law and eligi- 
bility to all offices of all Ottoman subjects without distinc- 
tion of religion; admission of Christian testimony in court; 
establishment of mixed tribunals; abolition of the kharadj 
or exemption tax." % 

The Hatti Humayoun (1856). —The Hatti Sherif of 
Ghul Khaneh had proved abortive. The abyss still yawned 
unbridged between the Mussulmans and the Christians. 
Language can hardly set forth the sense of superiority 
among the former. The cadi of Mardin in 1855 gave a 
permit for the interment of a Christian in the following 
words : " Permission to the priest of Mary to bury the im- 
pure and offensive carcass of Saidah, who went to hell this 
very day. Signed, Said MehemedFaize." In its language 
and its sentiment toward their subjects, this paper was 
typical of the ruling race. A Hatti Humayoun, or Imperial 
Proclamation, was issued on February 18, 1856. It reaf- 
firmed and extended all the glittering generalities of the 
Hatti Sherif. It forbade all distinction between the fol- 
lowers of the two religions. All Christian subjects had 
hitherto been excluded from the ranks. It now opened to 
them not only military service, but attainment of the high- 
est grades. To this provision Mussulmans and Christians 
united in opposition. The former were unwilling to obey 
officers of the subject Christian nationalities or to serve 
with them in the troops. The latter preferred still to pay 
the exemption tax and had no wish to fight for a govern- 
ment they abhorred. 

Massacres at Djeddah (1858) and in Syria (1860). Euro- 
pean Intervention. — It is a peculiar fact that the Crimean 
War stimulated the hatred of the Turks for all foreign 
Christians, for the British and French even more than for 
the Russians. Their pride was stung on seeing the crushing 
superiority in the civilization and power of the Western 
nations. This sullen hatred was diffused throughout the 
empire and grew all the more intense, because they realized 



A.d. 1858-1861.] THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 91 

that those detested foreign Christians looked on them 
with contempt. 

At Djeddah, in Arabia (July 15, 1858), the wild exhor- 
tations of some dervishes excited a crowd of pilgrims to 
attack the foreigners. The consul of France and vice-con- 
sul of Great Britain were massacred while trying to protect 
their countrymen. The bombardment of the city by an 
Anglo-French squadron (July 25) and the hanging of ten 
of the murderers made only a slight impression. 

An explosion followed on a larger scale in Syria. The 
Druses, though comparatively quiet since 1845, were no 
less envenomed against the Christians. Khourshid Pasha, 
governor-general of Bei'rout, and Achmet Pasha, com- 
mander of the army of Arabistan, encouraged them to 
action. Speedily (May, 1860) the Lebanon and the neigh- 
boring country were drenched with blood. Greed and lust 
multiplied the bands of the fanatics. With every attendant 
horror entire villages were blotted out. The Bedouins of 
the desert joined hands with the Druses of the mountain. 
Damascus was as sanguinary as the Lebanon. Only the 
British and Prussian consulates were respected. The Otto- 
man troops were not behind in murder and pillage. It is 
impossible to tell how many thousands were slain or died 
of exposure. The Emir Abd-el-Kader, who for sixteen years 
had defended his country of Algeria against the French, 
was then living in Damascus. At peril of his life, with a 
band of followers, he protected as many Christian fugitives 
as he could and lavished his resources in their support. 

Europe shuddered at these atrocities. Lord Palmerston 
denounced them in Parliament. By a convention between 
Great Britain and France, which the Porte was obliged to 
approve, 6000 French troops were sent to Syria. They 
were potent arguments in favor of justice and order. Fuad 
Pasha, Ottoman Minister of Foreign Affairs, was given full 
authority to punish the criminals. Marshal Achmet Pasha 
was tried and shot. Khourshid Pasha was condemned to 
prison. Eighty-five Mussulmans on conviction were put 
to death. Such interference was effectual. The Lebanon 
became, and has continued to be, one of the most orderly 
and peaceful provinces of the empire. By decision of the 
great Powers it has since been ruled by a Christian gov- 
ernor. The French corps of occupation returned home in 
1861. 



92 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1861-1868. 

Sultan Abd-ul Aziz (1861-1876). —Sultan Abd-ul Medjid 
died in June, 1861. His reign of twenty-two years was 
rilled with good intentions without accomplishment. His 
brother, Sultan Abd-ul Aziz, who succeeded, was of stronger 
fibre. But kept in extreme seclusion, constantly under 
watch, he was as ignorant as a child of what went on in the 
Ottoman Empire or the outer world. On his accession he 
repeated all the customary glowing promises of reform. 
More extravagant even than his brother, his prodigality 
bordered on madness. Enormous sums were squandered 
in erecting palaces, of which he often tired before they 
were complete. His harem of 900 women was served by 
3000 attendants. Moustapha Eazyl Pasha, accountant gen- 
eral, in an interview with the Sultan hinted at the danger 
of national bankruptcy. He was exiled for his rashness. 
The machinery of government was kept in motion by two 
capable men, Fuad Pasha and Ali Pasha. The latter was 
one of the ablest statesmen Turkey ever produced. Strictly 
honest, inaccessible to a bribe, he was moreover a tireless 
worker. Provincial rebellions and petty wars kept him 
constantly busy. 

The Insurrection of Crete (1866-1868). —During the last 
sixty years insurrection was the chronic condition of Crete. 
In 1866, as before in 1821, in 1841 and 1858, it assumed a 
more general and threatening form. Never were the 200,000 
Christians, who formed two-thirds of the population, more 
cruelly and more unjustly governed. Their complaints to 
Constantinople against their inhuman governor, Ismail 
Pasha, had only called out vague promises of improvement 
and a stern menace that they must submit to the officers of 
the Sultan. The Cretans got together a general assembly 
which declared them independent and pronounced for union 
with Greece. In the mountains of Sphakia, the western 
part of the island which never had been thoroughly sub- 
dued, they carried on a guerilla war. They routed detach- 
ment after detachment sent against them, forced the 
capitulation of Ismail Pasha and destroyed another Turkish 
division at Selino. Kiritli Pasha was sent as a dictator 
with 40,000 men. He fared no better, nor did Omar Pasha, 
the Turkish generalissimo, who replaced him. France, 
Italy, Prussia and Russia proposed the appointment of an 
international commission to administer the island. Great 
Britain and Austria opposed the proposition, and it was 



A.d. 1869.] THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 93 

rejected by the Sultan. War seemed imminent between 
Turkey and Greece, but the latter power was kept from 
action by France and Great Britain. From America gener- 
ous sums were sent to relieve the distress among the Cretan 
refugees, but Europe looked on in general apathy. By the 
employment of all its resources the Ottoman Empire at last 
quieted the insurrection for a time. At the convent of 
Arcadion the Cretans made their final stand. As the Turks 
crossed the last trench over the bodies of its last defenders, 
the Cretan women set fire to the powder in the vaults and 
blew up themselves and their conquerors. 

Opening of the Suez Canal (November 17, 1869). — This 
year the great enterprise of M. de Lesseps, though still in- 
complete, was so far advanced as to be passable by ships. 
Its various stages of construction had already occupied 
twenty years. By connecting the Bed Sea and the Medi- 
terranean, it converted Africa into the vastest of the island 
continents. In prolonging its entire length 100 miles, over 
80,000,000 cubic yards of earth and rock had been removed. 
On it had been expended about $95,000,000. The only 
share of Turkey in the achievement was found in the fact 
that Ismail Pasha, viceroy of Egypt and the earnest pro- 
moter of the enterprise, was a vassal of the Sultan. At the 
formal opening almost all the maritime nations were rep- 
resented by warships, which passed through the canal in 
an imposing and memorable procession. The occasion was 
honored by the presence of European sovereigns, among 
them Empress Eugenie and the emperor of Austria- 
Hungary. 

Foreign Loans and Bankruptcy. — In 1854, during the 
exigencies of the Crimean War, the government obtained a 
foreign loan of £5,000,000. The next year it borrowed a 
like amount. Almost to its surprise it found foreign capi- 
talists not only willing but desirous to advance their money 
in return for its promise to pay. With that thoughtless- 
ness of the morrow which characterizes the Ottoman, it 
was of all others the easiest and most agreeable way to 
obtain a revenue. By March, 1865, the entire public debt 
amounted to about £36,700,000. 

Within the next ten years the total of foreign indebted- 
ness had grown to nearly if not quite £230,000,000. That 
is, it had increased in the proportion of about £20,000,000 
a year! To show for it there were only a few elegant but 



94 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1875-1876. 

useless edifices here and there and a fleet of equally useless 
ironclads, always anchored in a majestic semi-circle along 
the Bosphorus in front of the palace of the Sultan, not for 
his protection but for his amusement. It is impossible to 
describe the levity with which those enormous sums had 
been squandered. When the daughter of Sultan Abd-ul 
Medjid was married to Ali Galib Pasha, over $7,000,000 
were expended on the trousseau of the bride. 

The day of reckoning came in less than a quarter of a 
century after that first loan of 1854. Up to 1875 the in- 
terest had always been promptly paid, even if a new loan 
was necessary to obtain the funds. At last even the in- 
terest could no longer be provided for. On October 6, 
1875, the grand vizir, Mahmoud Nedim Pasha, announced 
that the state was bankrupt. He considered himself in no 
small degree justified for partial repudiation by the fact 
that the nominal sums had by no means been received, the 
later loans especially being effected at ruinous rates, and 
that the interest already paid on certain loans was larger 
than the original amount. 

Death of Sultan Abd-ul Aziz. — The troubles in Herze- 
govina (1875), the massacres in Bulgaria (1875), and the 
war with Montenegro and Servia (1876-1877) make the last 
years in the reign of Sultan Abd-ul Aziz to be long remem- 
bered. Ali Pasha, Fuad Pasha, General Omar Pasha, all 
his tried statesmen and supporters, were dead. The grand 
vizir, Mahmoud Nedim Pasha, was the creature of General 
Ignatieff, the Russian ambassador. The empire was in a 
condition hardly better than anarchy from one end to the 
other. The long patience, even of the Mussulmans, was ex- 
hausted. The softas or theological students terrified the 
Sultan into the appointment of ministers of their choice. 
A few days later the Sheik-ul-Islam gave a fetva approving 
his deposition. Midhat Pasha, an energetic man whose 
government of several provinces had been signalized by 
violent reforms, headed a conspiracy. The Sultan was 
quietly dethroned (May 24, 1876). A few days later he 
was found dead. The court physicians declared he had 
committed suicide. 

He visited the International Exposition at Paris in 
1867, being the only Ottoman sovereign who in peaceful 
fashion had set foot in a foreign country. But he learned 
nothing in his travels and brought back only added aversion 



A.D. 1876-1877.] THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 95 

to Western ways. His one success was in humbling the 
viceroy of Egypt, his vassal, on whom he had previously 
bestowed the almost regal title of khedive. He compelled 
him to reduce his army, surrender his ironclads and abstain 
from exercising the attributes of sovereignty. It had been 
his lifelong ambition to assure the succession to his son, 
Yusuf Izeddin, thus setting aside the Ottoman custom, which 
vests the inheritance in the oldest member of a dynasty 
and not in direct descent. By his deposition all his careful 
plans were brought to naught. His nephew, Sultan Mourad 
V, was at once proclaimed. The excitement caused by the 
tragic death of his uncle and by the assassination of some of 
his ministers at a cabinet meeting unsettled his reason. 
He was removed by the sultan-maker, Midhat Pasha, and 
his brother, Sultan Abd-ul Hamid II, reigned in his stead. 

The Reign of Sultan Abd-ul Hamid II (1876-1898). —No 
other Sultan in the Mosque of Eyoub ever girded on the 
sword of Osman — the Turkish equivalent of coronation — 
in national conditions so appalling. 

Eebellion was rampant in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 
imminent in Arabia. Montenegro and Servia had declared 
war and the Turks believed that Europe, and certainly Rus- 
sia, were about to do the same. The horrors of Bulgarian 
massacres had shocked and for a time alienated the empire's 
most persistent friends. The civil and military service was 
everywhere in utter confusion. The prodigality of preced- 
ing reigns had impoverished the people and brought on 
bankruptcy, which made further foreign loans impossible. 
There was no money to pay the troops. The ironclads could 
not move for lack of coal. The young Turkey party, com- 
posed largely of Moslems who had lived abroad, not numer- 
ous but noisy, demanded thorough renovation of the empire. 
The vast majority of the Mussulmans, as bigoted as they 
were ignorant, denounced even the pretence of reform. To 
them Sultan Mahmoud and Sultan Abd-ul Medjid were little 
better than giaours. In their judgment the abandonment 
by recent Sultans of the principles and practice of early 
days was wholly responsible for national decline. Their 
fierce fanaticism was as dangerous as foreign attack. Par- 
tisans of the dead Abd-ul Aziz were plotting to enthrone his 
son, Yusuf Izeddin. Partisans of the crazy Mourad were 
plotting his restoration. Midhat had deposed two sultans. 
Two dethronements in four months had made the idea of 



96 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1870-1881. 

revolution grimly familiar. What Midhat Pasha had done 
twice he was capable of doing again. When Abd-ul Hamid 
ascended the throne in 1876 it was a common belief that he 
would not occupy it a year. 

In December the formal conference of ambassadors opened 
at Constantinople. The Ottomans were not allowed repre- 
sentation at the sessions. The very day the delegates as- 
sembled salvos of artillery hailed the proclamation of a 
Constitution by the Sultan. This Constitution was most 
comprehensive and liberal. It was based upon the equality 
of all men and the sanctity of individual rights. It intro- 
duced the representative system. There was to be a senate, 
named for life by the Sultan", and a chamber of deputies, 
holding office for four years. The system of election was 
by universal suffrage and ballot. There was to be one 
deputy for every 50,000 Ottoman "citizens." 

The Turks met the memorandum containing the definite 
propositions of the conference by counter propositions and 
pointed as a guarantee to their newly granted Constitution. 
"Few countries enjoy such a constitution as ours," said 
Midhat Pasha gravely to the ambassadors. The success of 
Turkish diplomacy during this century has been due to a 
simple and invariable policy. In any emergency by 
specious promises it has sought to gain time, and the time 
thus gained it has utilized in playing off the Powers against 
one another. The conference formulated an ultimatum. 
Midhat Pasha submitted this ultimatum to a national as- 
sembly of 180 Mussulman and sixty Christian notables. 
Only the one delegate, the head of the native Protestant 
community, dared vote for its acceptance. The other nota- 
bles declared that it was contrary to the Ottoman Constitu- 
tion and must hence be refused. Then the ambassadors 
quitted Constantinople, but dissensions had arisen among 
them and they were not in harmony as to the ultimatum 
they had proposed. The Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 
and its consequences are described in the chapter on Russia. 

The conclusion of the war did not bring internal peace 
to the broken empire. Soon the Albanians rebelled and 
murdered Mehemet Ali Pasha, who had been sent to make 
amicable arrangements with them (1881). The Arabs, who 
had always looked down on their Turkish masters and lost 
no opportunity to weaken their authority, gave constant 
trouble and were subdued at great cost. For a moment, on 



a.d. 1882-1897.] THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 97 

the occupation of Egypt by the British (1882), the Sultan 
■was on the point of declaring war against Great Britain, 
but more prudent counsels prevailed. The Armenian mas- 
sacres of 1894-1896, rivalling the atrocities of the time of 
the Greek revolution and exceeding in horror the massacres 
in Syria and Bulgaria, roused the indignation of the civil- 
ized world. But this time no foreign nation was ready to 
do more than exchange diplomatic notes and employ diplo- 
matic pressure. The promises of 1868 to Crete were habitu- 
ally ignored. The Cretan insurrections of 1877, 1885, 1887 
and 1889 were succeeded by what seemed a life-and-death 
struggle in 1895 and 1896. Again the government promised 
reforms, forwarded a specious programme and appointed a 
Christian governor. The Cretans despised pledges which 
had been violated so often and demanded annexation to 
Greece. The Greek government sent Prince George with a 
torpedo flotilla and Colonel Vassos with 1500 troops to the 
assistance of their brethren (February, 1897). Now a real 
concert of Europe was brought about, not to restrain des- 
potism, but to crush men fighting for liberty. The iron- 
clads of Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Great Britain, 
Italy and Russia blockaded Crete, landed a force of 3600 
men and bombarded the insurgents who had gained control 
of almost the whole island. The war of 1897 between 
Greece and Turkey was the result. 

At first Sultan Abd-ul Hamid II was only a phantom 
upon the throne. Were he really to reign, it was necessary 
to break the virtual dictatorship of Midhat Pasha, who was 
a tool of Great Britain as Mahmoud Nedim Pasha had been 
of Russia. Reports, skilfully put in circulation, and the 
arrogant bearing of the Pasha, sapped his popularity. 
Suddenly arrested at midnight (February, 1877) he was 
obliged to give up the seals of office and go at once into 
exile. Later on he was recalled and made governor of 
Smyrna. Accused of the murder of Sultan Abd-ul Aziz, 
he was tried and convicted. The sentence of death was 
remitted and he was banished to Arabia, where he died. 
All the men who had conspired against Sultan Abd-ul Aziz 
and Sultan Mourad V and all the prominent partisans of 
those sovereigns were gradually stripped of power. The 
Sultan took the entire administration upon himself. By 
a revolution, as silent as it was slow and effectual, all real 
authority was removed from the grand vizier and centred in 



98 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1876-1898. 

his own hands. The palace superseded the Porte. The 
cabinet officers became hardly more than the Sultan's sec- 
retaries, the two essentials for their continuance in office 
being ability and subservience. Professing no admiration 
for European institutions, he emphasized his headship of 
the Moslems as their caliph. The most personal of per- 
sonal governments ruled and still rules at Yildiz Kiosk. 
But inherent in it are all the radical and fatal evils of 
absolutism. 

" Laborious but ill-informed," the Sultan, though shutting 
himself in Oriental seclusion, has been successful in con- 
trolling or outwitting the foreign ambassadors who were in 
the habit of domineering over his predecessors. For a few 
years he seemed to incline to France; then to Great Britain 
during the days when Lord Dufferin and Sir William White 
were British ambassadors; since 1891 to Russia. The ex- 
ample of frugality and economy, set by the Sultan, is in 
marked contrast to all past Ottoman history. Reorganized 
by German officers, the efficiency of the army has been 
greatly increased. The Ottoman Empire is to-day stronger 
and more formidable, despite its loss of territory, than it 
has been at any time since the battle of Navarino, seventy- 
one years ago. But the Ottoman parliament ended its brief 
existence with its second session (1880) and there is little 
discussion of "reforms." 



a.d. 1848.] TEE BALKAN STATES 99 



XII 

THE BALKAN STATES 
(1848-1898) 

The Five States, Roumania, Montenegro, Servia, Bul- 
garia, Greece. — These have all been carved during the 
present century out of the Ottoman Empire. Montenegro 
indeed always asserted her independence, but was none the 
less reckoned a subject territory by the Sultan. Greece 
achieved national existence by the revolution which began 
in 1821 and lasted seven years. In 1848 the three other 
states were in different stages of subjection. Bulgaria was 
hardly more than a tradition. Her boundaries had been 
blotted out and her people utterly reduced when she was 
added to other Ottoman conquests in the fourteenth century. 
Servia was an autonomous province, with a native prince, 
but payiug tribute and kept in check by Turkish garrisons. 
Roumania is the present name of what was then the two 
provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, including all the Turk- 
ish possessions north of the Danube. All five were adher- 
ents of the Eastern Orthodox, or Greek Church, but were of 
different races. The Roumanians were the mixed descend- 
ants of Dacians and Romans, the Greeks were Hellenic, 
and the Montenegrins, Servians and Bulgarians were Slavs. 
Thus there were three ethnic layers, the northern or Latin, 
the central or Slavic, and the southern or Greek. Though 
partakers in the common distress, brought on by the civil 
and religion despotism under which they lived, they looked 
on one another with jealousy and aversion rather than sym- 
pathy and kindly feeling. 

Roumania. — Moldavia and Wallachia, in 1848, were both 
under the tyrannical rule of hospodars, appointed by the 
Sultan. The shock of the French Revolution reached even 
the Black Sea. Both the provinces rose and drove out their 
governors. The Turks marched in from the south to put 
down the rebellion, whereupon the Russians entered from 



100 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848-1866. 

the east. War seemed inevitable between Turkey and Rus- 
sia. It was averted by the convention of Balta Liuian, 
which stipulated that the hospodars in future should be 
named for seven years by the Sultan and Tsar conjointly, 
and that the provinces, while vassals of the Sultan, should 
enjoy the protection of the Tsar. Tranquillity existed until 
the Crimean War, after which, by the treaty of Paris, a 
collective guarantee of the great Powers was substituted 
for the Russian protectorate, and the provinces reverted to 
the control of the Sultan. A portion of Russian Bessarabia 
was annexed to Moldavia, so that the Russian frontier should 
nowhere touch the Danube. 

Disappointed in their hopes of independence, Moldavia 
and Wallachia were clamorous for union into a single state. 

Their desire was encouraged by France and Russia, but 
opposed by Turkey, Great Britain and Austria, who were 
unfavorable to any measure tending to increase the strength 
of the provinces. A plebiscite resulted in an almost unani- 
mous declaration for union. After tedious negotiations, 
occupying several years, the great Powers agreed that one 
central committee should be empowered to enact common 
laws for the two, but that otherwise they should exist apart, 
each choosing its own provincial assembly and prince. 
But in 1859 the two elected the same candidate, Colonel 
Alexander Couza, whom they proclaimed "Alexander I, 
Prince of Roumania." The Sultan interposed every objec- 
tion, but finally (1861) recognized him "for life," granting 
investiture, and receiving the same tribute as before. In 
1862 the two provincial assemblies fused in one common 
national assembly, at Bucharest. Thus, in defiance of 
diplomacy, union was achieved. 

The Roumanian nobles were so many petty despots, while 
the peasants possessed almost no civil rights. The wealth of 
the country was in the hands of numerous opulent monaster- 
ies. Couza abolished feudal privileges, proclaimed universal 
suffrage and confiscated the property of the monasteries to 
the advantage of the state. Thus the nobility and clergy 
became his deadly foes. The nobles, in return for an in- 
demnity, were obliged to abandon a large part of their 
lands, which was divided among the peasants. But by 
declaring tobacco a governmental monopoly he alienated 
popular support. His beneficent measures were mixed with 
tyranny. Surprised in his bedchamber by a band of con- 



A.D. 1866-1898.] THE BALKAN STATES 101 

spirators, he was forced to abdicate (February, 1866). Aban- 
doned by all, he went into exile. 

The Chambers chose Prince Philip, of Flanders, brother 
of the king of Belgium, as his successor. On his declina- 
tion a plebiscite of the whole country elected Prince Charles 
of Hohenzollern (April 20) . A European conference at Paris 
declared the election void, but Prince Charles was advised 
by Bismarck to ignore its decisions. Traversing Austria 
in disguise, he received an enthusiastic welcome at Bucha- 
rest (May 22). The Turks had watched the progress of 
events in Roumania with anxiety, but had always been dis- 
suaded from action. The Powers had likewise confined 
themselves to formal expressions of dissatisfaction. This 
time Sultan Abd-ul Aziz determined on war. Omar Pasha 
massed a formidable army on the Danube. But the vic- 
tory gained at Sadowa by Prussia, of whom Charles was 
the protege^ and the troubles in Crete, prevented interfer- 
ence. He was formally recognized as Prince of Roumania 
by both the Sultan and all Europe (October). His marriage 
with the Princess of Wied, in 1869, seemed to confirm his 
dynasty. 

On the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878, 
Roumania proclaimed herself independent (May 21, 1877). 
The development of her army had been carefully pursued 
by her new ruler, and she was able to offer Russia valuable 
aid. At the siege of Plevna, where Prince Charles was 
commander-in-chief of the Russian forces, her troops dis- 
tinguished themselves for gallantry, and materially con- 
tributed to the capture of Osman Pasha and his entire 
command. In 1881 the representatives of the nation de- 
clared Roumania a kingdom, under Charles I as king. 
Disappointed of issue, his nephew, Prince Ferdinand, in 
1888, was decreed his successor, with the title of Prince of 
Roumania. Though Queen Elizabeth had given her hus- 
band no heir, her pronounced Roumanian sympathies and 
popular ways have materially strengthened his throne. 
Under her pseudonym of " Carmen Sylva," her stories and 
poems have added to the reputation of Roumania abroad. 
Save during one brief period of glorious war, the reign of 
Charles I has been devoted to the peaceful solution of in- 
ternal questions and to internal progress. 

The position of Roumania, midway between Russia and 
Austria-Hungary, upon the lower Danube, on the road to 



102 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848-1898. 

Constantinople, has given her a marked strategic impor- 
tance. To Hungary she is a constant menace. Over 
2,500,000 Roumanians are subjects of the Hungarian crown. 
To reunite them all under one flag is the ambition of " Rou- 
mania irredenta." 

Montenegro. — In 1848 the name Montenegro, or Czrna- 
gora, was applied to a territory of less than 1500 square 
miles, a mass of rocky and lofty mountains west of Albania, 
inhabited by 107,000 human beings. The history of the 
country has been one long, ferocious heroism. Such of the 
Servians as would not submit had, after the fatal battle of 
Kossova (1389), taken refuge in its fastnesses, and there 
maintained an invincible resistance to the Turks. Their 
ruler, the vladika, or prince bishop, had the right of appoint- 
ing his successor, whom he chose from among his nephews. 
He was aided in administration by a council of twelve per- 
sons chosen by himself. On the death in 1851 of Peter II, 
who had been an able warrior and statesman, his nephew, 
Danilo, became vladika. In the great charter of 1852 he 
divested himself of his episcopal functions, asserted his 
right to marry, and made the succession hereditary. Soon 
afterwards the Sultan sent Omar Pasha to attack him. 
Mirko, the elder brother of the prince, in a three months' 
campaign slew in battle 4500 Turks and captured 900 pris- 
oners. Again attacked in 1858 by vastly superior forces, 
the Montenegrins gained the decisive battle of Grahova, 
where more than 3000 Turks were killed. Two years after- 
wards Danilo was assassinated. Leaving no son, his nephew, 
Nicholas I, succeeded. Another war with the Turks (1862) 
was no less honorable to the mountaineers. 

Thus far every Montenegrin was an armed volunteer, little 
susceptible to military discipline and poorly armed. The 
fourth Turkish war in the space of the last fifty years began 
in 1876. Everywhere successful, though against desperate 
odds, the independence of Montenegro was acknowledged 
by the Sultan in 1878. In the preliminary treaty of San 
Stephano, Russia obtained such concessions for the heroic 
little country as would have trebled its territory and doubled 
its population. Though these gains were largely reduced 
by the treaty of Berlin, it eventually acquired the port of 
Dulcigno on the Adriatic, with a seaboard of almost thirty 
miles. 

Prince Nicholas I is still on the throne. During his reign 



A.D. 1848-1869.] THE BALKAN STATES 103 

of thirty-eight years his country has made marked progress 
in civilization. Himself educated in Europe, he has ren- 
dered education compulsory, and carefully encouraged agri- 
culture among his warlike people. The marriage of his 
daughter, Helena, to the Prince of Naples, the heir of the 
Italian throne, is supposed to insure Montenegro an ally 
against Austria-Hungary, who, far more than the Ottoman 
Empire, is the chief enemy of Montenegrin independence. 
Since the days of the Tsar Peter, a peculiar attachment has 
existed between Montenegro and Russia. This attachment 
has at no time been stronger than to-day. 

Servia. — The patriot swineherd, Kara George, gave to a 
part of Servia a political existence early in the present cen- 
tury. Defeated, he fled from the country, and the insurrec- 
tion was headed for fifteen years by Milosch Obrenovitch. 
Worn out by the persistence of the insurgents, Sultan 
Mahmoud (1830) erected the revolted territory into an 
autonomous hereditary principality, and appointed Milosch 
its governor. Kara George returned, but Milosch succeeded 
in having him assassinated. Since then the feuds of the 
rival Karageorgevitch and Obrenovitch families have been 
a main factor in Servian history. Alternately members of 
the two houses expelled each other from power until 1859, 
when Alexander Karageorgevitch was a second time deposed 
and Michael Obrenovitch a second time placed in control. 
Michael was assassinated in 1868. Alexander in his absence 
was declared guilty by the criminal court of complicity in 
the crime. 

None the less great progress had been made meanwhile 
in shaking off the Turkish yoke. During the Cretan trou- 
bles of 1867 the Sultan, to propitiate the Servians who 
threatened to join the Greeks, withdrew his garrison from 
the citadel of Belgrade. Michael had armed his people 
and imposed military service on all able-bodied men. He 
had also endeavored to introduce some civil reforms among 
his people, and had occasionally convoked the Skoupchtina, 
or legislative body. His wise measures were well seconded 
by M. Garashanine, who showed more ability than any 
minister whom Servia has produced. 

Milan, the successor of the murdered ruler, was only 
fourteen years of age. The regency of three persons, which 
ministered affairs during his minority, proceeded to pro- 
mulgate a liberal constitution (1869). While confiding all 



104 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1869-1898. 

ordinary power conjointly to the prince and a Skoupchtina 
of 120 members, it provided for an extraordinary or great 
assembly of 480 members in cases of emergency. Prince 
Milan was declared of age in 1872. Though in consequence 
of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 the independence of 
Servia was acknowledged by the Sultan, and the state in 
1882 proclaimed itself a kingdom, his reign was filled with 
disgrace and disaster. Nothing but the intervention of 
Russia saved Servia from destruction by the Turks in 1876. 
Bat the chief humiliation was received from the hands of 
the Bulgarians at Slivnitza (1885). This time she was de- 
livered from the consequences of a shameful defeat by the 
intervention of Austria. The scandalous conduct of the 
king toward Queen Natalie, who was idolized by the com- 
mon people, still further increased his unpopularity. Fi- 
nally he obtained a divorce of questionable validity (1888), 
which was annulled by both parties in 1894. 

The public debt had enormously increased in spite of 
excessive taxation. Radical measures to propitiate the 
masses, such as the granting (1888) of a still more demo- 
cratic constitution than that of 1869, did not allay the 
universal discontent. The choice seemed to lie between 
abdication and deposition. Milan chose the former. He 
appointed a regency and proclaimed his son Alexander, 
then a boy of twelve (1889). 

The young king has shown courage and energy. Before 
he was seventeen years old he arrested, at his own table, 
the regents who were to govern during his minority. The 
next day he declared himself of age and has since held the 
reins. In the following year, by a coup d'etat, he abolished 
the constitution of 1888 and restored that of 1869. He has 
also shown a desire for amicable relations with Bulgaria and 
Montenegro. 

Servia has for more than twenty years been tormented by 
the ambition to act the role of a Slavic Piedmont. But she 
has presented no Servian Cavour, nor has she shown such 
qualities in war or peace as to indicate her fitness for 
leadership. A large portion of old Servia is still under the 
Sultan, or included in the principality of Bulgaria. Mean- 
while the bitter contentions of the three parties, the radicals, 
the progressists and the liberals, waste her energies and 
paralyze her progress. 

Bulgaria. — The last fifty years have brought marvellous 



A.D. 1848-1876.] THE BALKAN STATES 105 

changes to Bulgaria. In 1848 there seemed no hope of 
political resurrection. Nowhere did the Turkish rule press 
more absolutely and cruelly, yet the diffusion of the Mus- 
sulmans all over the country, and its peculiar strategic 
features, rendered successful revolution unlikely, even if 
insurrection were attempted. Lost in a mass of nameless 
rayahs, many Bulgarians were ignorant of their own race 
and supposed themselves Greeks. Their ancient literature 
had been destroyed and schools had hardly begun to exist. 
Nor did they have that strong Eastern bond of union and 
guarantee of continued national existence which is found 
in the possession of a national church. Their church had 
been blotted out, and they were dependent upon the Greek 
patriarch at Constantinople. 

But here and there the people were stirring. Bulgarian 
revolutionary committees began to be formed across the 
Danube, in the Roumanian towns of Bucharest and Yassy. 
The bishops in Bulgaria were almost exclusively Greeks. 
A determined effort was made to confer their sees upon 
Bulgarians. The Turkish government was entreated to 
recognize the Bulgarian Church. After contention lasting 
twenty years, this project, obstinately fought against by 
the Greeks, was approved by the Porte (1870). A Bul- 
garian exarchate was created, but the exarch was required 
to reside at Constantinople. There had been no change of 
creed, but the Greek patriarch excommunicated all persons 
connected with the new religious organization. 

Sir Henry Bulwer, the British ambassador, looked with 
apprehension upon every indication of awakening life which 
might ultimately weaken the Ottoman government. On his 
suggestion over 500,000 wild Tartars and Circassians from 
the Crimea and the Caucasus were quartered in Bulgaria to 
keep the people in check (1859). Midhat Pasha governed 
the country four years. Under his stern but enlightened 
rule roads were constructed, agriculture protected and the 
general condition improved. But each amelioration only 
revealed to the Bulgarians how wretched was their lot. 

At last came the awful massacres of 1876. It was the 
time of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian insurrection. The 
Mussulman government and people were suspicious of 
the slightest movement of the Christians. Petty outbreaks 
convinced the panic-stricken grand vizir, Mahmoud Nedim 
Pasha, that all Bulgaria was rising. He let loose the Cir- 



106 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1876-1881. 

cassians and Bashi Bazouks to plunder and slaughter with- 
out restraint. For three months there was a carnival of 
death in the vain attempt to exterminate a people. Over 
20,000 persons were butchered. The consequence was the 
Russo-Turkish war, in which on many fields Bulgarians 
fought like heroes. The treaty of San Stephano made 
Bulgaria a powerful state, stretching from the Danube to 
the iEgean. The treaty of Berlin greatly reduced its size, 
and by unnatural division cut it into parts : Bulgaria, north 
of the Balkans, and Eastern Roumelia on the south. The 
former, a vassal tributary state, was to elect its own prince, 
who should be confirmed by the Sultan with the assent of 
the Powers. The latter was to remain under the Sultan's 
direct control. He was to appoint over it a Christian 
governor for a term of five years, with the assent of the 
Powers. 

A Constitution was adopted at Tirnova by an assembly of 
notables (1879). It provided for a Sobranie, or legislative 
assembly, elected by popular vote. A voter must be thirty 
years of age and able to read and write. The prince was 
to be commander of the army. The ministers named by 
him were to be responsible to him only. Sophia was made 
the capital. The election of a prince was entrusted to an 
extraordinary or Grand Sobranie, which is convened only on 
special occasions. It chose Prince Alexander, of Batten- 
burg, then an officer in the Prussian army. He took the 
oath at Tirnova, on July 9, 1879, and the Russian army of 
occupation evacuated the country one week later. 

Thus Bulgaria had arisen from the tomb of centuries, 
and stood forth a state among the nations with a sovereign 
and Constitution of her choice. Her people had no experi- 
ence in the art of self-government, but their patience and 
practical common sense were to stand them in good stead. 
There was no proscription of Mussulmans in their midst, 
despite the vivid memory of recent atrocities. 

The overbearing arrogance of the Russians made the 
Bulgarians forget their great services. Russians crowded 
the higher offices of civil and military administration and 
treated the Bulgarians with contempt. The Russian diplo- 
matic agent, M. Hitrovo, acted like a master. The liberals, 
antagonists of Russia, obtained a large majority in the 
Sobranie and their leader, M. Zankoff, became prime min- 
ister. Prince Alexander, by a coup d'etat, suspended the 



A.d. 1881-1894.] THE BALKAN STATES 107 

Constitution (1881) and made the Russian general, Ernroth, 
prime minister. Two years afterwards he restored it and 
called Zankoff to power. 

By a sudden revolution in eastern Roumelia (September 
18, 1885) the governor, Gavril Pasha, was expelled, and 
the union of the two Bulgarias proclaimed. Great Britain 
approved the act. It was denounced by Russia, who re- 
called every Russian officer in the Bulgarian army. Servia 
looked with a jealous eye on the creation of the Bulgarian 
principality. Its union with eastern Roumelia roused her 
to exasperation. Believing the moment opportune, while 
the troops of her rival were without superior officers, she 
declared war and crossed the frontier. The Bulgarians rose 
as one man. Alexander proved himself an able leader. 
The enemy was hurled back. Then followed the three 
days' battle of Slivnitza, the most glorious event in modern 
Bulgarian history. The Servian capital, Belgrade, was res- 
cued from capture only by the intervention of Austria. 

A miserable intrigue deposed and exiled the prince the 
following year. Recalled to the throne, he abdicated soon 
afterwards (September 7, 1886), through dread of the Tsar 
Alexander III, who was his personal enemy. The Tsar 
sent General Kaulbars to win back the friendship of the 
Bulgarians. The unwise and brutal conduct of the envoy 
incensed the people, until at last he and all the Russian 
consular agents withdrew. Finally the Grand Sobranie 
elected Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the grand- 
son of Louis Philippe. Russia was still hostile, so he could 
obtain recognition neither from the Sultan nor the Powers. 

Por more than seven years after the deposition of Prince 
Alexander, M. Stambouloff, first as president of the regency 
and then as prime minister, was the real ruler. The domi- 
nant idea of his policy was the independence of Bulgaria, 
not only from Turkey, but from the diplomatic interference 
of Europe, and specially of Russia. His rule was vigorous 
and despotic, often violent and unjust, but never wavering. 
His chief success was in securing from the Sultan the ap- 
pointment of Bulgarian bishops in Macedonia. But he 
wore out all his early popularity and became intolerable to 
the prince. An angry letter of resignation, the acceptance 
of which he did not anticipate, was the means of his fall 
(May 31, 1894). A year later he was assassinated in the 
street. Dr. Stoiloff, a highly educated and patriotic states- 



108 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1830-1862. 

man, a typical Bulgarian of the worthiest type, has been 
prime minister since 1894. Under him difficulties with 
foreign nations have been smoothed away, the prince has 
been recognized by the Sultan and the great Powers, and 
the country has tranquilly gone on in the path of progress. 

The principality does not include all the Bulgarians. 
Many are found on the west and south under the rule of 
Servia or Turkey. In Macedonia the majority of the in- 
habitants are Bulgarians, and the ultimate fate of that 
province is disputed by Bulgaria, Servia and Greece. 

Greece. — It was the misfortune of Greece that, after her 
emancipation from Turkey had been recognized (1830), she 
was compelled to organize her entire administration in ac- 
cordance with the exigencies of the great Powers, and with 
no regard to the wishes of her own people. Though desir- 
ing a republican form of government, she was forced to 
accept a monarchy, and Prince Otho, a Catholic and a 
Bavarian, was imposed as king (1833). For ten years he 
ruled as a foreign despot by means of a Bavarian ministry 
and Bavarian army. There was no legislative assembly 
and no constitution. On September 15, 1843, a peaceful 
revolution extorted the promise of a constitution and of a 
national Chamber, and compelled the retirement of the 
Bavarian Cabinet and the appointment of Mavrocordatos, a 
Greek, as prime minister. The Powers did not interfere. 

The constitutional assembly met in November. It elected 
as its president a revolutionary hero, Panoutsos Notaras, 
then 107 years old. On March 16, 1844, a liberal Constitu- 
tion received the royal signature. It provided for minis- 
terial responsibility, a Senate named by the king and a 
Chamber of Deputies, or Boule, elected by universal suffrage. 

The restoration of the Byzantine Empire has always been 
a Greek dream. When the Crimean War broke out, Greek 
enthusiasm believed the moment of realization near and 
prepared to attack the Sultan. In consequence a British 
and French fleet blockaded the Piraeus. A sufficient force 
was sent on shore to overawe Athens. It occupied the 
country from May, 1854, to February, 1857. 

King Otho and his haughty and childless queen, Amelia, 
had never been liked by the Greeks and grew daily more 
unpopular. While they were absent on a pleasure trip in 
the iEgean a general insurrection broke out, the throne was 
declared vacant and a provisional government appointed 



A..D. 1862-1878.] THE BALKAN STATES 109 

(October, 1862). On their return the royal travellers were 
not allowed to come on shore and departed at once for 
Bavaria. Prince Wilhelm of Denmark was elected " King 
of the Hellenes," nominally by the national assembly, but 
really by the Powers (1863). If the Greeks were doomed 
to have a foreign king, no wiser choice could have been 
made. Great Britain marked her satisfaction by the ces- 
sion to Greece of the Ionian Islands, which she had held 
ever since the Napoleonic wars. The marriage of the young 
sovereign and of the Grand Duchess Olga, niece of the Tsar 
Alexander II, indicated the good-will of Russia. 

George I at once showed himself democratic in his man- 
ners and sympathies. The new Constitution of 1864, which 
received his full approval, was even more liberal than its 
predecessor of 1844. It abolished the senate and estab- 
lished entire freedom of the press. Parliamentary majorities 
have ever since determined the composition of the cabinet 
and the foreign policy. While modern Greece has possessed 
several statesmen of ability, the two most prominent have 
been MM. Tricoupis and Delyannis. During the seventeen 
years subsequent to 1881 they alternated with each other 
in the premiership, M. Tricoupis being prime minister four 
times and M. Delyannis three. 

The relations of Greece and Turkey have given rise to 
the most delicate and involved complications. The unsat- 
isfactory and unjust boundaries, assigned after the revolu- 
tion, left the majority of the Greeks still rayahs of the 
Sultan. Their blood had been lavished without reward. 
The bond between these rayahs and their emancipated kins- 
men has even grown stronger with time. Every disturbance 
on the mainland or in the islands has caused a sympathetic 
outburst among the free Greeks. But European diplomacy 
has been harder to deal with and more dreaded than the 
military strength of the Turks. 

During the Cretan insurrection of 1866-1868 the Greeks 
welcomed and cared for more than 50,000 Cretan refugees, 
and were only prevented by the interference of France and 
Great Britain from themselves taking up arms in behalf of 
their brethren. A similar pressure kept them quiet during 
the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878, their army crossing the 
frontier only after the preliminary treaty of San Stephano 
had been signed. Prance, at the Congress of Berlin, urged 
the claim of Greece to rectify her frontiers, and the signa- 



110 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1878-1897. 

tory powers proposed the assignment to her of all Thessaly 
and the southern half of Epirus. Turkey skilfully evaded 
compliance, ceding only a fragment of Epirus and southern 
Thessaly (1881). 

The fifteen following years were in the main peaceful 
despite the heat of party politics. But ineffectual arma- 
ments against Turkey had been costly, and public works, 
such as the construction of railways and canals, destined to 
ultimately increase the wealth of the country, had drained 
its resources and exhausted its credit. Still commerce and 
agriculture advanced. Whatever change occurred in the 
general condition was for the better. 

Then began the saddest chapter in the story of modern 
Greece. In Crete the fight for liberty had again burst forth 
with fury. The again-repeated and familiar promises of 
reform were laughed at by the insurgents. On February 8, 
1897, when almost the whole island was in their possession, 
they proclaimed its union to Greece. The news came upon 
the Athenians like a spark upon gunpowder. The king 
despatched Prince George with a torpedo flotilla to Crete 
(February 10) and Colonel Vassos with 1500 men (February 
14). The Powers protested and occupied Canea, the Cretan 
capital. Their fleet bombarded the Greeks and Cretans 
whenever they came in range. In a joint note (March 2) 
they declared that " in present circumstances " Crete could 
not be annexed to Greece, but that it should be endowed 
" with an absolute autonomy " under the suzerainty of the 
Sultan. This declaration was satisfactory to neither Turk, 
Greek nor Cretan. More than 40,000 Cretan refugees had 
fled to the Piraeus and excited compassion. 

The Greek and Turkish troops approached the Thessalian 
frontier. Provoked by incursions, Turkey declared war 
April 17. The vastly superior number of her troops, their 
splendid discipline and the generalship of their commander, 
Edhem Pasha, decided the result in a three weeks' cam- 
paign. The Crown Prince Constantine, the commander of 
the Greeks, showed little courage or capacity. His small 
army, supplied only with enthusiasm, was as badly equipped 
as it was poorly led. The prime minister, M. Delyannis, 
resigned. His successor, M. Ralli, sued for peace (May 8). 
The conditions of the treaty were terrible for the van- 
quished. Greece was to withdraw her troops from Crete, 
to pay a war indemnity of $20,000,000 and to submit her 



a.d. 1897.] THE BALKAN STATES 111 

finances to international control. Her frontier was also to 
be rectified to Turkish advantage. It was understood that 
Crete was to enjoy an autonomous government "with 
reforms." 

Thus Greece had staked her existence and been tempo- 
rarily crushed. In 1854 or 1867 or 1878, or even in 1881, 
other conditions were more favorable, and she might have 
succeeded, but in 1897 she was hampered in every way, and 
the Ottomans given not only a free hand, but moral support 
by the concert of Europe. Roumania, Montenegro, Bulga- 
ria and Servia, who might also have risen against -Turkey, 
were strictly enjoined to remain neutral, and the two latter 
states were rendered responsible to prevent outbreak in 
Macedonia. 

Yet it must be remembered that the course of the Powers 
was determined, partly, indeed, by hostility to Greek am- 
bition, but above all by a common dread of a general Euro- 
pean war. No conflagration spreads so fast as successful 
rebellion. Crete and Greece were sacrificed on the altar of 
an ignoble peace. 



112 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848-1898. 



XIII 

THE SMALLER EUROPEAN STATES 
(1848-1898) 

Denmark. — Frederick VII ascended the throne on Janu- 
ary 20, 1848. Soon after his accession he granted an auto- 
cratic Constitution. The R-igsdag, or Assembly, consisting 
of an upper and a lower Chamber, was to meet annually, 
and could not be prorogued till after it had sat two months. 
The upper Chamber, of sixty-six members, was appointed 
partly by the sovereign and partly by restricted ballot. The 
102 members of the lower Chamber were elected by suf- 
frage, each voter to be thirty years of age and of reputable 
character. The desire for uniformity led the king to apply 
the same constitution to Iceland, where the ancient Althing, 
or General Diet, after existing 870 years, had been abol- 
ished in 1800. The Icelanders fretted at the new system, 
refused to be made a mere royal province and stoutly in- 
sisted on maintaining their traditional local laws. After 
long discussion, most of the demands of the Icelanders were 
grudgingly granted in 1874. 

With Frederick VII, who died in 1863, the Danish 
dynasty became extinct. Christian IX, of the house of 
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg, became king. 
Like his predecessor, he was confronted on his accession by 
a war over Schleswig and Holstein, which were conquered 
and held by the allied Prussians and Austrians. The in- 
ternal history of Denmark has been filled by the struggles 
of the conservatives and liberals. The former, supported 
by the privileged classes, are absolutist in tendency and 
care little for parliamentary government. The liberals, 
representing the vast majority of the people, wish to make 
their rights a fact. Its weakness has prevented Denmark 
from exercising political influence abroad.. But the children 
of no other European sovereign have already occupied or 
expect to occupy so many thrones. Frederick, the prince 



A.D. 1848-1898.] THE SMALLER EUROPEAN STATES 113 

royal, is heir to the crown of Denmark. Prince Wilhelm, 
under the title of George I, is king of Greece. Princess 
Alexandra is the wife of the Prince of Wales and in the 
course of nature will be queen of Great Britain. Princess 
Marie Dagmar, as the wife of Alexander III, was Tsarina 
of Russia, and is the mother of the present Tsar Nicholas II. 

Sweden and Norway. — These two states, violently thrust 
together in 1814 after the overthrow of Napoleon, have 
their separate existence under one crown,. each with its own 
Constitution, ministry, and two Chambers. For foreign 
affairs, however, there is but one minister, who is usually 
a Swede. The king resides at Stockholm, which outranks 
Christiania much as Sweden outranks Norway. In fact, the 
independence of Norway is nominal rather than real. This 
position of inferiority rankles in the less populous country, 
and furnishes the most prominent plank in the platform of 
the Norwegian radical party. In both countries the sys- 
tem of election is by restricted suffrage. The number of 
electors qualified to vote for members of even the lower 
house is in Norway about nine per cent, of the population, 
and in Sweden only about six per cent. 

Oscar I, the son of Charles XIV, better known as Mar- 
shal Bernadotte of France, acceded in 1844 and reigned 
fifteen years. His son, Charles XV, reigned from 1859 to 
1872, when he was succeeded by Oscar II, the present sov- 
ereign. He is distinguished as a man of learning and an 
accomplished orator in many languages. The two countries 
have taken small part in European politics during the last 
half century. In 1855 they joined the alliance against 
Russia, the hereditary enemy of Sweden. Instead of sub- 
siding, the anti-Swedish feeling in Norway and partiality 
for Denmark have grown stronger in the last five years. 
Nothing but the tact of Oscar II has thus far prevented war 
between the Norwegians and Swedes. 

Switzerland. — Despite diminutive size and small popu- 
lation, Switzerland, in political ideas and institutions, re- 
sembles the United States more than does any other foreign 
country. Its people have had long experience in self-gov- 
ernment. Their freedom has been gained by their own 
heroic efforts and not bestowed by foreigners. Their area, 
small as it is, has reached its present extent by successive 
admissions or by annexations of adjacent territory. 

The fact that the people are of three nationalities and 



114 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848-1898. 

languages, and that these three are geographically separate, 
French in the southwest and west, Italian in the south and 
German in the rest of the country, is an obstacle to effective 
union. A further obstacle is found in the second fact of 
their nearly equal division between Protestantism and 
Roman Catholicism, fifty-nine per cent being adherents 
of the former communion and forty per cent of the latter. 
These two religions are also drawn up on geographical 
lines, the central, or most ancient, and the southern can- 
tons being Catholic, while the western, northern and 
eastern cantons are Protestant. To these two facts are 
due most of their domestic troubles and civil wars. Since 
1848 there has been no political disturbance of any 
importance, except a royalist attempt in Neuchatel to 
overturn the government, and petty riots in the Italian 
canton of Ticino. 

But until 1848, though there was a Switzerland, there 
was no Swiss nation. An individual's rights were cantonal 
and not national. Men were citizens of Berne or Zurich or 
Uri or some other canton, but not of a common country. 
The salvation of the state and the assurance of its perma- 
nence came with the overthrow of the Sonderbund or Sepa- 
rate League of Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, Lucerne, 
Freiburg and Valais in 1847. 

The radical, or national, party had triumphed. They be- 
stowed upon Switzerland the most precious gift in its his- 
tory, the Constitution of 1848. The men who framed it 
studied carefully the Constitution of the United States. In 
view of the difficulties with which they had to deal, there 
was no other political document which could be of aid. In 
fact, the fundamental proposition of the Swiss Constitution 
is a paraphrase of Article X in the Amendments to the 
American Constitution. The political life of the nation has 
since been summed up in the application and extension of 
its organic charter. The Federal Assembly, exercising leg- 
islative functions, has taken the place of the ancient power- 
less Diet. The executive power is centred in a Federal 
Council of seven members, elected by the Federal Assembly 
for three years. This Federal Assembly is modelled after 
the American Congress. It consists of a State Council, 
wherein two deputies from each canton represent cantonal 
sovereignty, and of a National Council of one deputy for 
every 20,000 inhabitants, representing popular sovereignty. 



A.D. 1848-1866.] THE SMALLER EUROPEAN STATES 115 

The Swiss president has a minimum of authority, holds 
office for only one year and cannot be reelected. 

This Constitution has been several times revised, always 
with a tendency to give more direct participation in affairs 
to the people. The most important modification is in the 
extension of the referendum, whereby the impulse to law- 
making is from below rather than from above, and where 
the decision as well as the initiative rests in the hands of 
the voters. 

If appropriate laws, industry and material prosperity 
assure the welfare of a people, it is easy to credit the boast 
of the Swiss that they are the best governed and the hap- 
piest nation in the world. 

Belgium. — The successful revolution of 1830 against 
Holland secured Belgian independence. By the treaty of 
London (November 15, 1831) Austria, France, Great Britain 
and Russia guaranteed the neutrality of the new state. 
The Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha had been already elected 
king of the Belgians by the National Assembly, and had as- 
cended the throne as Leopold I. But the sovereign of Hol- 
land did not recognize accomplished facts until 1839. The 
constitution of 1831 declared Belgium "a constitutional, 
representative and hereditary monarchy." Leopold II, 
the present ruler, succeeded on the death of his father 
(December 10, 1865). 

The foreign history of the country has been confined to 
apprehension that its integrity might be violated by France 
or Germany. On the separation of Holland and Belgium, 
the grand duchy of Luxemburg had been divided. One- 
third of the territory, the inhabitants of which were mostly 
Germans, continued to be the grand duchy and was united 
to Holland by a personal union, the sovereign of that coun- 
try being acknowledged as the grand duke. It continued 
however to make part of the German confederation. The 
remaining two-thirds, inhabited by a French speaking 
people, were assigned to Belgium. When Louis Napoleon 
became emperor, the Belgians feared that he would secure 
the cession of this territory, and perhaps the annexation of 
their entire kingdom to France. But it was in reference 
to the grand duchy of Luxemburg that Napoleon carried on 
his calamitous negotiations with Bismarck after the Prusso- 
Austrian campaign of 1866. The proposal of Count Beust 
that the grand duchy should be annexed to Belgium, which, 



116 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1866-1898. 

in turn, should cede certain territory on the south to France, 
was indignantly rejected by Leopold II. The conference 
of London (May 11, 1867) decided on the neutrality of the 
duchy and on the withdrawal of the Prussian garrison which 
held its capital. The French diplomatists assert that Bis- 
marck had previously proposed the incorporation of all Bel- 
gium with France. Though Belgium was strictly neutral 
in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, she and Holland 
were both alarmed at the possible rapacity of the conquerors. 
But there was no interference with either. 

By an international conference in 1885, Leopold II was 
made sovereign of the Congo Free State, which possesses 
an area of 900,000 square miles and 30,000,000 inhabitants. 
On August 2, 1889, by a formal will, he bequeathed to Bel- 
gium all his sovereign rights over it. By convention the 
right is recognized to Belgium to annex the state at any 
time after the year 1900. 

Belgium is the most densely populated and, in proportion 
to its size, the wealthiest country in Europe. Nowhere are 
political parties more sharply defined and political contests 
more fierce. For sixty years there has been presented the 
spectacle of a determined and never intermittent wrestle 
between the nearly equal forces of the " Catholics " and lib- 
erals. The latter are strongest in the great industrial cen- 
tres and the former in the other parts of the kingdom. By 
a peculiar compromise, or double victory, in 1893 the prin- 
cipal tenets of both parties were engrafted on the revised 
Constitution. The liberals secured the suffrage for every 
citizen twenty-five years of age. Hitherto less than 140,- 
000 persons had been qualified to vote. The Catholics, un- 
willing to accept the principle of absolute political equality, 
secured the right of casting two or even three votes to who- 
ever possessed certain educational or property qualifications. 
Before 1893 in a population of over 6,000,000 less than 
140,000 persons were allowed the vote. In consequence of 
the constitutional revision 1,350,000 electors were authorized 
to cast 2,066,000 votes. 

The new system resulted in an overwhelming victory for 
the Catholics in the elections of 1894. The effacement of 
the liberals gives fresh hope and strength to advancing 
socialism, and the old Catholic party itself is breaking up 
into two hostile factions. 

Holland or the Netherlands. — William II died in 1849. 



A.D. 1848-1898.] THE SMALLER EUROPEAN STATES 117 

William III reigned until 1890. His two sons, William 
and Alexander, passed away some time before his death. 
In 1879, when sixty-two years old, he married, as his second 
wife, the Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, who 
was only twenty. Their daughter, Wilhelmina, succeeded 
at the age of ten, her mother taking the oath as regent. 
On August 31, 1898, this last descendant of William the 
Silent, on the completion of her eighteenth year, became 
sovereign in reality as well as in name. The formal coro- 
nation took place a week later. Probably the Dutch had 
never greeted any event with such enthusiasm as the for- 
mal accession of their fair girl-queen. 

The Constitution, granted the Netherlands in 1815, was 
revised in 1848 and 1887. The people, not being discon- 
tented with their government, were only slightly affected 
by the European commotions of 1848. In 1896 an Electoral 
Eeform Act conferred the right to vote on all Dutchmen 
twenty-five years old. Legislative functions were vested 
conjointly in the sovereign and a Parliament consisting of 
an upper, or first, and lower, or second, Chambers. Party 
divisions in Holland have been mainly religious, and the 
burning question still is as to the introduction of religion 
in the schools. Of late years the Catholics, who constitute 
a little over a third of the population, have been inclined 
to unite with the conservatives, or orthodox Protestants, 
against the liberals, who oppose religious instruction in 
state institutions. 

Holland still retains extensive colonial possessions, es- 
pecially in the Pacific, with an area of 783,000 square miles 
and a population of 35,000,000. An insurrection of the 
people of Atjeh in Sumatra, which has gone on in intermit- 
tent fashion for twenty-five years, has been a heavy tax 
upon her resources. In 1862 she abolished slavery in the 
Dutch West Indies. Her East Indian possessions are in a 
far less satisfactory condition. 

On the death of William III, Adolf, Duke of Nassau, 
succeeded as Grand Duke of Luxemburg. 

The Five Smaller States and the Balkan States. — These 
five smaller states — Denmark, Sweden-Norway, Switzer- 
land, Belgium and Holland — are superior in population 
and territory as well as in civilization and material pros- 
perity, to the five Balkan states — Roumania, Montenegro, 
Servia, Bulgaria and Greece. But during the last fifty 



118 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848-1898. 

years all of them, except Denmark, have mercifully been 
spared the experience of war. They have given rise to few 
problems of international importance. They have been 
permitted with little or no interference from outside to 
work out their individual destiny. 

The Balkan states, on the other hand, although inhabited 
by peoples still more ancient, are only just born into politi- 
cal life. They have been of late the occasion and the 
theatre of many destructive wars. Their vicinage to Con- 
stantinople makes them still the battle-ground of European 
diplomacy. The uncertainties and complications of their 
future render them to-day of more vital interest than any 
other territory of equal extent within the limits of the 
continent. 



a.d. 1833-1851.] SPAIN AND PORTUGAL H9 



XIV 
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 

Spain. Reign of IsabeUa II (1833-1868). —Ferdinand 
Vll died in 1833, leaving two daughters, Isabella and Maria 
Louisa. Isabella, the elder, a child of three, became queen, 
and her mother Christina was appointed regent. The Car- 
list war distracted the country for seven years, until 1840. 
That same year Marshal Espartero, Duke of Victory, seized 
the power, forced Christina into exile and, a military dic- 
tator, installed himself as regent. A coalition, headed by 
his bitter enemy, General Narvaez, afterwards Duke of 
Valencia, drove him from the country. The queen was 
declared of age (1843). Espartero had been devoted to the 
British. Narvaez was no less so to the French party, which 
now became dominant. Louis Philippe secured the hand 
of Maria Louisa for his son, the Duke of Montpensier, and 
brought about the marriage of Queen Isabella to her cousin, 
Francis d'Assisi, who was equally diseased in mind and 
body (1846). By this arrangement, if Isabella died child- 
less, the throne would revert to her sister and to the son of 
Louis Philippe. No woman was ever more cruelly sacri- 
ficed than this young queen, married on her sixteenth birth- 
day. Whatever the later follies and even crimes of Isabella 
II, they were largely due to the heartless craft of a cold- 
blooded king. 

The revolutionary tidal wave of 1848 crossed the Pyre- 
nees. But isolated republican movements were quickly 
repressed. The camarilla, or clique of royal favorites, 
crowded Narvaez from office (1851). In March the govern- 
ment signed a concordat with the Pope, prohibiting the 
exercise of any religion other than the Roman Catholic, 
placing all education under the control of the clergy and 
submitting all publications to their censorship. The gov- 
ernment further proposed such amendments to the inopera- 
tive Constitution as would formally deprive the Cortes of its 
prerogatives and render the sovereign absolute. These 



120 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1851-1868. 

amendments were superfluous, but even any semblance of 
liberty was to be effaced. The army and the workmen of 
the large cities combined in successful revolution (July, 
1854). For two years Espartero and Marshal O'Donnell, 
minister of war, directed affairs and followed a more liberal 
policy. Then came two years of clerical reaction. O'Don- 
nell had founded the Liberal Union, recruited among the 
advocates of mild reform or opponents of absolute despot- 
ism. It carried him into power (1858) and sustained him 
as prime minister until 1863. He sought to divert attention 
from domestic troubles to foreign affairs. Thus he invaded 
Morocco (1860), joined Napoleon and Great Britain in the 
Mexican expedition (1861), attempted the overthrow of the 
Dominican Republic (1861-1865) and began a senseless war 
against Peru (1863-1866). Most of these enterprises ended 
in utter failure, unaccompanied by glory and enormously 
increasing the national debt. 

O'Donnell was replaced by Narvaez. The queen surren- 
dered herself entirely to priests and favorites. The darkest 
days of absolutism and bigotry returned. Spanish Protes- 
tants were condemned to the galleys for no other crime than 
their faith. All newspaper articles were to be submitted 
to the censor before publication. The Cortes passed a law 
that any person on suspicion could be arrested and impris- 
oned. Meanwhile discontent and indignation were seething 
all over Spain. Packing the prisons to overflowing could 
not drown the general complaint. Yet none were so blind 
and deaf as the queen and her counsellors. Narvaez was 
able to terrify the opposition, dissolve the Cortes and expel 
Marshal Serrano, the president of the Senate. Narvaez 
was merciless and strong, but he died (April 23, 1868) and 
his successor, Gonzales Bravo, though merciless was weak. 

The Revolution (1868). — The three persecuted parties, 
the progressists, unionists and democrats, coalesced. The 
Marshals Serrano and Prim issued a pronunciamento against 
an intolerable government. Then came the crash in one 
mad, universal upheaval. Hardly an arm was raised in 
behalf of the queen, who fled to France (September 30, 
1868). 

Political Experiments (1868-1875). — During the succeed- 
ing eight years there were few political experiences which 
the unhappy country did not endure. During the trial of 
each experiment its opponents did their utmost, by noisy 



a.d. 1868-1876.] SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 121 

demonstration or secret plot, to make it a failure. At first 
the dual dictators, Marshal Serrano and Marshal Prim, were 
the one, president of the council and commander of the 
army, and the other, minister of war. The Cortes met 
(February 12, 1869) and proclaimed a Constitution, the sup- 
posed panacea for every evil (June 5). A less number of 
deputies were opposed to a liberal monarchy than to any 
other system, so the Constitution was drawn up in that 
sense. 

Marshal Serrano was made regent (June 16, 1869) and 
devoted himself to finding a king. Among other princes 
who declined the proffered crown was Leopold, a Hohen- 
zollern prince, whose supposed candidacy furnished the 
occasion of the Franco-Prussian war. Prince Amadeo, 
Duke of Aosta, son of Victor Emmanuel, gave a favorable 
answer. He was elected by a majority of the Cortes (No- 
vember 15, 1870). The very day he landed at Barcelona 
(December 28) Marshal Prim, the minister of war, was 
murdered at Madrid. The assassins lodged eight bullets 
in his body. Amadeo was crowned and remained in Spain 
for two years. He did his best to rule well, but the clergy, 
the nobles and the republicans opposed him at every step 
and offered him all possible insult. The Carlist war broke 
out again with fresh fury, under another Don Carlos, grand- 
son of the old pretender (1872). Disheartened and dis- 
gusted, Amadeo abdicated (February 11, 1873). The next 
day the Cortes declared the republic. Months of wrangling 
among the republican factions resulted in the proclamation 
of Senor Castelar as president with dictatorial powers. He 
had been professor of philosophy at the University of 
Madrid. He was an orator, a patriot and a statesman, but 
he could not rule Spain. He resigned (January 2, 1874). 
At once General Pavia, at the head of the army, expelled 
the Cortes and made Marshal Serrano military dictator. 
Marshal Campos proclaimed the restoration of the Bourbon 
dynasty in the person of Alphonso, the son of the deposed 
queen (December 29, 1874). This measure was supported 
by the general sentiment. Marshal Serrano made no oppo- 
sition and Alphonso XII returned from England, where he 
had been a student in the Royal Military Academy, and 
ascended the throne. 

Reign of Alphonso XII (1875-1885) . — The present Con- 
stitution was proclaimed on June 30, 1876. The political 



122 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1876-1885. 

liberties it secures are large in appearance. But ambiguous 
or qualifying phrases make it a liberal Constitution hardly- 
more than in name, and place the reality of power in the 
hands of the sovereign, the executive. Legislative functions 
are exercised by the Cortes, which consists of a Senate and 
Congress of equal authority. The Senate is composed of sen- 
ators " in their own right," — members of the royal family, 
grandees enjoying an annual income of over $12,000, cap- 
tain-generals, admirals, archbishops and presidents of the 
supreme councils and courts — of senators named for life 
by the sovereign and of 180 senators elected by privileged 
bodies. The entire number at no time can exceed 360. 
The Congress of 431 deputies is elected by universal suffrage. 
By the law of June 26, 1890, all male Spaniards twenty- 
five years of age, except certain disqualified persons, are 
allowed to vote. The Cortes meets annually, and may at 
any time be suspended or dissolved. In the latter case a 
new Cortes must sit within three months. The Constitution 
declares Koman Catholicism the religion of the state, but 
no person can be molested for his private opinions or for 
the exercise of his own faith. At the same time no public- 
ity of celebration or announcement, such as a notice upon 
the walls, is allowed to other communions. 

The Carlist war was entirely suppressed. Estella, the 
headquarters of insurrection, surrendered (February 19, 
1876) and Don Carlos fled to France. The Carlist party 
none the less exists to this day. His partisans were re- 
cruited among the mountains of the Basque and Navarrese 
provinces, which still retained their fueros, or special privi- 
leges, such as exemption from imposts and from military 
service. These fueros, which few preceding governments 
had dared to touch, were now formally abolished by vote of 
the Cortes (July 21). Another civil war was necessary to 
carry the vote into effect. 

The disorder elsewhere began to diminish. The Carlists 
for a time were harmless. The republicans broke up into 
cliques or, under the lead of Castelar, rallied to the support 
of the throne. Two monarchist parties, the conservatives 
and the liberals, emerged from the political chaos. The 
former was led by Canovas del Castillo and the latter by 
Sagasta. One or the other of these two statesmen has been 
at the head of Spanish affairs since 1874, seven times suc- 
ceeding each other as prime minister. 



A.D. 1885-1895.] SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 123 

Reign of Alphonso XIII. Regency of Queen Christina 
(1885- ). — Alphonso XII died in his twenty-eighth year 
(November 25, 1885). His daughter, Maria de las Mer- 
cedes, would have succeeded had not the birth of a posthu- 
mous brother, Alphonso XIII (May 17, 1886) deprived her 
of the crown. The queen dowager, Christina, an arch- 
duchess of Austria, had been declared regent. A devoted 
wife, her whole life since the death of her husband has been 
consecrated to her son. If the young prince ever sits upon 
the throne, it will be due to his mother's sagacity and de- 
votion. Nor is it strange if, in the effort to make him king, 
dynastic interests have sometimes outweighed the interests 
of Spain. 

The queen confided the direction of affairs to Serior Sa- 
gasta, and indicated her preference for a liberal policy. 
The financial situation gave most concern. There was 
an ever-growing deficit, but any attempt to curtail always 
provoked fierce opposition. The socialists and anarchists 
redoubled their activity. At Xeres the latter tried to seize 
the town, and at Madrid to blow up the palace of the Cortes. 
The troubles at Barcelona could only be put down by martial 
law (1892). Meanwhile the four hundredth anniversary of 
the discovery of America was celebrated with enthusiasm all 
over the country, but riots at Madrid ended the festivals. 
The one need was money. One day the mayor of the capital 
was to pay 16,000,000 pesetas. There were only 769,000 in 
the treasury. At Barcelona during a review an anarchist 
bomb severely wounded Marshal Campos, the commander- 
in-chief, and killed some of his staff, and at the theatre 
another bomb killed twenty spectators and wounded many 
more (1893). An insult from the Moors suddenly engrossed 
attention. Morocco escaped war only by agreeing to pay an 
indemnity of 20,000,000 pesetas. Though smuggling was 
openly carried on, proposals to lower the tariff brought the 
country to the brink of revolution. Officers attacked the 
liberal newspapers and destroyed the presses. Catalonia 
rose in revolt. The republicans demanded the deposition 
of the dynasty. At the end of his resources, Sagasta re- 
signed. Canovas formed a cabinet (March 22, 1895). 

Cuba. — The chronic insurrection in Cuba had assumed 
alarming proportions. In the mind of the new prime min- 
ister, the Cuban question dwarfed all other problems with 
which he had to deal. He demanded an unlimited credit. 



124 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1895-1897. 

The army of General Gallega, commander of the Spanish 
troops in the island, though often reenforced, had been hor- 
ribly decimated by yellow fever. Marshal Campos, consid- 
ered the ablest soldier in Spain, was appointed to lead a 
new expedition. He selected with care 200 officers and 7000 
men. General Valdez, director of the military school at 
Madrid, was his chief of staff. He sailed on April 2, 1895. 

During the next two years and a half, though riots, re- 
bellions and hideous anarchist outrages went on in Spain 
and the state of the finances grew constantly more appall- 
ing, Cuba filled the political horizon. Insurrection in the 
Philippines only diverted partial attention to the East. 
Had Cuba been, like Crete, an island in the Mediterranean 
Sea, Spain would have felt less concern. Its nearness to 
the United States rather than apprehension of the insur- 
gents was the ground of her anxiety. 

The hopes entertained of Marshal Campos were not real- 
ized. He was replaced (January 17, 1896) by Lieutenant- 
General Weyler, whose former cruelties in Cuba and 
Catalonia had given him a sinister reputation. This ap- 
pointment roused outspoken indignation in the United 
States. Spain, however, regarded all expressions of Ameri- 
can sympathy for the inhabitants of the island as insincere 
and prompted by selfish motives. While dreading inter- 
vention she took no efficient measures to remove the abuses 
on which intervention might be based. Nor was she likely 
to give a colony a much better administration than her own 
people enjoyed at home. The ministry however announced 
certain unsatisfactory reforms (February 6, 1897), of which 
the most prominent was the grant of a kind of autonomy to 
Cuba; but these reforms were to be applied only after the 
island was tranquil. The prime minister, Senor Canovas, 
was assassinated in broad daylight by an anarchist (August 
8, 1897), and his lifelong rival, Senor Sagasta, took office. 

General Weyler' s policy of terrorism had proved even 
less effective than Marshal Campos' policy of pacification. 
Even the Spaniards denounced him. Formal communica- 
tions from the American government (September 19 and 
October 5) increased the gravity of the situation. General 
Weyler was recalled and General Blanco appointed in his 
stead (October 9). A radical change in policy, with full 
autonomy for Cuba, was attempted. It was too late. 
Events had marched beyond the control of statesmanship 



A.D. 1897-1898.] SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 125 

or diplomacy. An indiscreet letter of the Spanish minis- 
ter at Washington, Senor de Lome, caused his resignation 
(February 8, 1898). The American battleship Maine was 
blown up in the harbor of Havana (February 15) with the 
loss of 250 seamen and two officers. Common opinion 
attributed the catastrophe to the Spanish officials. In the 
United States the growing sentiment in favor of interven- 
tion could no longer be repressed. 

Pope Leo XIII offered to mediate between the Cuban 
insurgents and the mother country (April 4). The six 
European Powers presented a joint note to President 
McKinley in the interests of peace (April 7). On April 20 
President McKinley signed a resolution of Congress recog- 
nizing the independence of Cuba. The same day he sent 
an ultimatum to Spain, but before it could be delivered 
the Spanish government notified the American minister, 
General Woodford, that diplomatic relations with the 
United States were at an end. War had begun. 

After an unbroken series of defeats, M. Cambon, the 
French ambassador at Washington, in behalf of Spain, sued 
for peace (July 20). The peace protocol was signed at 
Washington (August 12). Spain relinquished all sover- 
eignty over Cuba, ceded Porto Rico and all her possessions 
in the West Indies, and whatever island in the Ladrones 
the United States should select, assented to the occupation 
of Manila, — bay, harbor and city, — leaving to the treaty 
hereafter to be signed all matters relating to the Philip- 
pines, and agreed to immediately evacuate the West Indies. 
Both governments were to suspend hostilities as soon as the 
protocol was signed. Five commissioners from each nation, 
no later than October 1, were to conclude the definite treaty 
of peace. 

Thus Spain departed from the hemisphere which she re- 
vealed to the world 406 years before. The news of peace 
was received with satisfaction by her exhausted people. 
She has now to concern herself with domestic affairs, but 
tranquillity is not the normal condition of the Iberian 
peninsula. 

Portugal. — Dona Maria da Gloria II died in 1853. Her 
father, Pedro I of Brazil, had abdicated the Brazilian throne 
that he might devote his life to placing the Portuguese 
crown securely upon her head. Soon after expelling the 
usurper, Dom Miguel, Dom Pedro died (1834). The young 



126 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848-1898. 

queen, a girl of fifteen, was left in a position of extreme 
difficulty. The country was in a condition hardly better 
than anarchy, and was threatened on one side by Great 
Britain and on the other by Spain. The great mass of the 
people were indifferent to politics, either domestic or for- 
eign, but petty chiefs, who could seldom muster a thousand 
followers, kept the kingdom in continual turmoil. They 
veiled their pretensions under devotion to the liberal Con- 
stitution of 1812 or the democratic Constitution of 1822 or 
the absolutist Charter of 1826. But it is hard to discern in 
the machinations of progressists or septembrists or chartists 
anything higher than the eagerness of men out of power 
to dispossess those who held it and to obtain it for them- 
selves. 

Maria da Gloria was succeeded by her son, Pedro V. 
Since he was a minor his father, Ferdinand, Duke of Saxe- 
Coburg-Gotha, acted as regent. Throughout this reign pes- 
tilence ravaged the kingdom. The young king, who had 
become of age in 1855, devoted himself to the welfare of 
his people, and refused to leave his plague-stricken capital. 
He died of cholera in 1861, as did also his brothers, Ferdi- 
nand and John. The throne was left to their brother Luiz. 
With him the shattered kingdom enjoyed at last a peaceful 
and prosperous reign. His death (October 9, 1889) caused 
profound grief all over the country. He had married Maria 
Pia, the daughter of Victor Emmanuel, king of Italy. 
Their son, Carlos I, is the present king of Portugal. 

No European dynasty is more deservedly esteemed and 
loved by its subjects than the Portuguese house of Braganza. 
Nowhere is the stiffness of royal etiquette more relaxed, 
and nowhere are the relations of sovereign and people more 
familiar. 

At the same time the condition of the kingdom is unsat- 
isfactory. A naturally rich country is impoverished and 
bankrupt. The expenditure exceeds the revenue. It has 
been necessary to repress the anarchists with a stern hand. 
The 800,000 square miles of colonies, some of them dating 
from the proud days of the nation, are a burden rather than 
a source of income, and have several times involved troubles 
with other states. The army weighs heavily on a population 
of less than 5,000,000. But yet Portugal is in a far less 
unhappy state than fifty years ago. 

The constitutional Charter of 1826 is still the fundamental 



a.d. 1898.] SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 127 

law. It lias been modified at various times, lastly in 1895. 
Careful not to confound administrative functions, it enu- 
merates them distinctly as the legislative, executive and 
judicial, and places above them the moderative, or the royal, 
power. Its strength is found in the sagacity of the sover- 
eign and in the attachment of the people to the dynasty. 



128 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848. 



XV 

GREAT BRITAIN 

The British Empire. — The sovereign of the British Em- 
pire bears the title of " Queen of the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland, and of its Colonies and Depend- 
encies in Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Oceania." 
The immensity of this title is bewildering. But it affords 
only a faint indication of the stupendous fact that the Brit- 
ish sovereign reigns not only over the most enormous empire 
the world ever saw, but over one vaster than the Babylo- 
nian, Persian, Macedonian and Roman empires of Nebu- 
chadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander and Augustus Caesar united. 
Its entire territory amounts to over 12,000,000 square miles, 
almost a quarter of the total land surface of the globe. Its 
inhabitants, subjects of the queen, number 390,000,000 
human beings, more than a fourth of all mankind. Its pre- 
eminence upon the sea is even greater than upon the land. 
Its merchant navy has a tonnage of 13,641,000 tons, exceed- 
ing by 3,940,000 tons the tonnage of all the merchant fleets 
of Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and 
the United States combined. So the British seamen are 
not far wrong in regarding every ocean as a British lake. 

That one little island, less than 90,000 square miles in 
area, on the western verge of Europe, has been able by its 
brain and enterprise to exert and secure such unparalleled 
and world-wide dominion is in itself the most astounding 
fact of modern history. 

British interests, unlike those of any other people, are 
universal. It may be said that there is no point on the 
earth's surface that in some way does not touch Great Brit- 
ain. In this sketch of the years between 1848 and 1898 
nothing will be attempted beyond the outline of the most 
important facts. 

Great Britain in 1848. — Queen Victoria had sat upon the 
throne since June 30, 1837. The two great Whigs were in 
office, Lord Russell as prime minister, and Lord Palmer- 





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A.D. 1848-1851.] ORE AT BRITAIN 129 

ston as secretary of foreign affairs. It was the time of 
"unfulfilled revolutions." The chartist party, which had 
carried on agitation since 1832, went to pieces in a miser- 
able fiasco (April 10). But its chief tenets, manhood suf- 
frage, vote by ballot, annual Parliaments, eligibility to the 
House of Commons, irrespective of property qualification, 
and payment of members, have already been accepted, or 
seem about to be accepted, as laws of the land. The Young 
Ireland party attempted armed revolution. Its leaders were 
arrested and sentenced, after trial, to transportation. But 
the Irish question remained to embarrass legislation 
through the remainder of the century and to force a grad- 
ual solution. 

Repeal of the Navigation Laws (1849). — These laws were 
enacted in the days of Cromwell (1651). They were de- 
signed to cripple Holland, then the chief carrying power, 
and to develop English shipping. They prohibited the 
importation into England, Ireland or any English posses- 
sion, of merchandise from either Asia, Africa or America, 
except in English built ships, commanded by Englishmen 
and manned by crews three-fourths of whom must be Eng- 
lish. From Europe no goods could be imported except 
under the same conditions or in ships of the country where 
those goods were produced. Under these laws Holland had 
been crippled and the mastery of the seas secured to Eng- 
land. They had been gradually modified at various times. 
But they had become no longer necessary. Nevertheless 
their abolition encountered determined opposition. 

The Great Exhibition (1851). — Since then there have been 
many universal or international exhibitions, notably at 
Paris (1867), Vienna (1873), Philadelphia (1876), Paris 
(1878 and 1889), Chicago (1893), but that at the Crystal 
Palace in Hyde Park was unique, inasmuch as it was the 
first. Its inception was due to Prince Albert, the husband 
of Queen Victoria. The mere proposal to exhibit goods of 
foreign production and to invite foreigners to England en- 
countered a storm of vituperation and abuse. The splendid 
edifice of iron and glass was itself the most fascinating part 
of a wonderful display. Over 30,000 visitors were present 
at the opening (May 1, 1851). The time chosen for the 
exhibition was most propitious, a sort of interim between 
the revolutionary storms of 1848 and the outbreak of the 
Crimean War. The Crystal Palace at Sydenham, erected 



130 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1851-1855. 

(1854) from the materials used in the Palace of the Great 
Exhibition, now affords some slight conception of how im- 
posing was the structure in which the nations for the first 
time met in peaceful and beneficent rivalry. 

The Part of Great Britain in the Crimean War (1853- 
1857). — Various causes led Great Britain to participate in 
this war. The chief was dread of Russian expansion. It 
is the only war with a European state in which the empire 
has engaged since 1815 down to the present time. The 
country could well be proud of the invariable pluck dis- 
played by the common soldiers at Alma, Balaklava and 
Inkerman. The Crimean campaign gave the world the in- 
spiration derived from the deeds and name of Miss Florence 
Nightingale and directly contributed to the foundation of 
the Red Cross at Geneva in 1863. But in every other 
respect it brought a terrible disillusion to the British people. 

The empire, almost omnipotent upon the water, found it- 
self almost impotent against a civilized enemy on the land. 
The generals were incapable and sick. Confusion, disorder 
and fraud prevailed everywhere. Abundant stores had been 
paid for and shipped, but the soldiers were without food 
and their horses without hay. Whole regiments were with- 
out shoes. Immense quantities of boots arrived, but were 
found to be all for the left foot. Medical and surgical sup- 
plies were always at the wrong place, and the wounded and 
cholera-stricken received no care. Most galling was the 
superior condition of the French. But their allies were 
generous and provisions were constantly sent to the British 
from the French camp. 

Even on their own dominion, the water, there had been 
failure. Amid exuberant demonstrations Sir Charles 
Napier, with a magnificent fleet, had sailed to attack Cron- 
stadt, but, without accomplishing anything, had been forced 
to return. 

As the state of affairs in the Crimea became gradually 
known in England, there was an outburst of popular rage. 
Mr. Roebuck in the House of Commons introduced a motion 
to investigate the condition of the army and the conduct of 
the War Department. The government counted on its nor- 
mal majority in a docile Parliament. It vigorously opposed 
the motion, which was none the less carried by a majority 
of 157. Indignation had proved itself stronger than party 
ties (January 31, 1855). 



A.D. 1855-1857.] GREAT BRITAIN 131 

The energetic Lord Palmerston became prime minister. 
At once he despatched a sanitary commission to the Crimea 
and revolutionized the commissary department. The Brit- 
ish were more ready for war .the day it ended than they had 
been at any preceding time. But Britain had learned a 
bitter lesson. She set herself to the reform of her military 
system. Probably her grave errors in that war she will 
never repeat. 

Wars with Persia (1857) and China (1857-1860). —The 
Persian war was quickly finished. The Shah's army was 
beaten at Koushaub and most of his southern ports occu- 
pied. He obtained peace on condition of evacuating Herat 
in Afghanistan, which he had seized. 

The Chinese war was caused by the overbearing policy 
of Lord Palmerston. The cooperation of France was easily 
obtained, as she had an outstanding claim against the Chi- 
nese. Canton was captured (December, 1857). By the 
treaty of Tien Tsin (June, 1858) China agreed to pay the 
expenses of the war, to no longer apply the term " barba- 
rian " to European residents and to allow British and French 
subjects a certain degree of access to the interior. Again 
troubles broke out (1859), whereupon the allies stormed 
Pekin, spent two days in burning the summer palace and 
forced China to accept their terms. This time she was to 
pay a main indemnity of $20,000,000, with other minor 
indemnities, to accept a British envoy at Pekin and to 
apologize for fighting at all. The vandalism of the 
allies in these expeditions was a disgrace to Western 
civilization. 

The Indian Mutiny (1857-1858). — Many causes have 
been assigned for the Indian mutiny. The all-sufficient 
cause is to be found in the detestation which the natives 
entertained for foreign rule, and in their belief that at last 
the opportunity had come to shake it off. India was not 
then a possession of the British crown, but of the East India 
Company. Chartered in 1600 with a capital of £68,000, 
that company had rapidly swollen until, in 1857, it con- 
trolled a territory and a population many-fold larger than 
the territory and population of the British Islands. Its 
authority was maintained by a large standing army, mainly 
composed of sepoys, or Mussulman or Hindu natives, but 
in part of British troops, and commanded by British officers. 
In 1857 many of the European soldiers had been withdrawn 



132 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1857-1861. 

and the sepoys were left in dangerously large proportion. 
The latter were discontented and sullen. Mutinies were 
frequent, but had been always put down. Then a rumor 
spread among the troops that their new cartridges had been 
smeared with swine's fat, a defilement to the Mussulman, 
and with cow's fat, a profanation to the Hindu. The cav- 
alry regiment at Meerut mutinied (May 10). Insurrection 
flooded northern India like a volcanic eruption. It was 
not a concerted movement. It did not embrace all India. 
But it put in peril everything that Englishmen had acquired 
in the peninsula during 250 years. It revealed unsurpassed 
heroism among the British, both men and women, and made 
the names of Lieutenant Willoughby, General Havelock 
and many other British officers immortal. On the tomb of 
Sir Henry Lawrence, who was slain during the siege of 
Lucknow, the following words were engraved, " Here lies 
Henry Lawrence, who tried to do his duty." The glorious 
epitaph would have applied no less well to hundreds of men 
and women who died during that awful time. 

During their brief day of power, the sepoys had inflicted 
every conceivable horror upon their victims. When fortune 
changed, their conquerors were no more merciful. The 
mutiny was not entirely crushed until June, 1858. Soon 
afterwards the rule of the East India Company was termi- 
nated and the government of the country vested in the 
crown. Lord Canning was appointed the first viceroy of 
India (November, 1858). 

Lord Palmerston Prime Minister (1859-1865). — Accused 
of subservience to the French emperor, Lord Palmerston 
had fallen from power in 1858. The conservative ministry 
of Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli did not last twelve months. 
Lord Palmerston again became prime minister, Lord Rus- 
sell secretary of foreign affairs and Mr. Gladstone chan- 
cellor of the exchequer. This strong Cabinet controlled the 
destinies of the empire for six years. One of its most im- 
portant measures was the Cobden treaty with France (1860), 
whereby an immense step was taken toward free trade. In 
Jamaica an insurrection was repressed by Governor Eyre 
with extraordinary severity (1865). 

The Civil War in America (1861-1865). —When the war 
of secession broke out, the attitude of Great Britain caused 
surprise and disappointment in America. With unfriendly 
haste the British government recognized the Confederacy as 



A.D. 1861-1867.] GREAT BRITAIN 133 

a belligerent, and issued a proclamation of strict neutrality 
between the Federal Union and the seceded states (May 13, 
1861). Then, regardless of its own proclamation, it per- 
mitted privateers like the Florida and the Alabama to be 
built in English yards and manned with English sailors in 
order to prey upon American commerce. Lord Palmerston, 
Mr. Gladstone and many members of the House of Com- 
mons, especially liberals, made remarks and speeches which 
left a sting. The Duke of Argyle, John Stuart Mill and 
the Manchester party of Cobden and Bright were staunch 
friends of the North. Mr. Disraeli was absolutely impar- 
tial. An American captain forcibly removed Confederate 
envoys from the Trent, a British mail-boat (November 8). 
This unjust act was speedily disavowed by President Lin- 
coln, but the negotiations concerning it were conducted by 
the British secretary in an arrogant and overbearing tone. 
It was commonly believed that the American Union had 
broken to pieces, and Lord Palmerston never spared those 
whom he considered weak. While the controversy was 
hottest, the calm and judicious Prince Albert died (Decem- 
ber 14, 1861), as sincerely lamented in the United States 
as in Great Britain. 

Cotton had been obtained almost wholly from America. 
The blockade of the Southern ports cut off the supply and 
the mills shut down. Only charity saved the operatives 
from starvation. More than 480,000 persons in cotton- 
spinning Lancashire received assistance. But they believed 
slavery a crime. So, despite their misery, they never wa- 
vered in unselfish and never to be forgotten sympathy for 
the United States. 

Second Reform Bill (1867). — Lord Palmerston died (Octo- 
ber 18, 1865) and Lord Russell became prime minister. 
Mr. Gladstone was chancellor of the exchequer. His 
Eeform Bill failed, and Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli 
returned to office. The latter, convinced that the country 
urgently desired electoral reforms, introduced and carried 
what is known as the Second Eeform Bill. This was a 
democratic measure, adding to the list almost 1,000,000 
voters, specially among the workingmen. In the boroughs 
all householders who paid rates and lodgers who occupied 
buildings of an annual value of ten pounds became voters. 
So, too, in the counties did persons occupying houses or 
lands of twelve pounds annual value. This bill abolished 



134 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1867-1869. 

many inequalities, disfranchising small constituencies and 
securing increased representation to large ones. 

First Prime Ministry of Mr. Gladstone ( December, 1868- 
February, 1874) . The Irish Question. — The elections under 
the Reform Bill gave the liberals a large majority and made 
Mr. Gladstone prime minister. The badly organized and 
ill-fated Fenian movement had been noisily dragging along 
for nine years. Mr. Gladstone grappled at once with the 
Irish question. Ireland had serious grounds of complaint. 
Those most apparent could be grouped roughly under two 
heads, the Church and the Land. As to the Church : the 
large majority of the Irish were intensely Catholic, but the 
Irish state church was Protestant, Anglican and heavily 
endowed. As to the Land: the position of the tenant was 
little removed from serfdom and he was practically at the 
mercy of his landlord. He could be evicted at the land- 
lord's pleasure, and had no claim for money expended and 
improvements made. Mr. Gladstone's measure for the dis- 
establishment of the Irish church and its partial disendow- 
ment became a law on July 26, 1869. His other measure, 
which freed the tenant from the grip of his landlord, guar- 
anteed him the fruits of his labor and protected him by a 
special judiciary arrangement, became a law on August 1, 
1870. 

The Alabama Claims. — Under the "Alabama Claims" is 
summed up the gravest case the United States have had 
against Great Britain since 1776. Mr. Adams, the Ameri- 
can minister to the Court of St. James, gave notice (Novem- 
ber 20, 1862) that the United States solicited redress for 
the public and private injuries caused by the Alabama. 
Lord Russell denied any British liability for the same. 
Mr. Adams (April 5, 1865) submitted an official memoran- 
dum of the losses caused by the Alabama, and similar ships 
of war which had gone from Great Britain. He had pre- 
viously suggested arbitration. Lord Russell replied that 
the British government declined " either to make reparation 
or compensation . . . or to refer the question to any for- 
eign state." Succeeding British cabinets were less reserved. 

The Johnson-Clarendon Convention to adjust these claims 
was rejected as unsatisfactory by the American Senate 
(April, 1869). The United States took no further action. 
Later on, when the European political sky grew threatening, 
Great Britain herself made overtures for an adjustment 



A.D. 1869-1880.] GREAT BRITAIN 135 

(January, 1871). After long negotiations the whole matter 
was submitted to a tribunal of arbitration, the president of 
the United States, the queen of Great Britain, the king of 
Italy, the president of the Swiss Kepublic and the emperor 
of Brazil each appointing one commissioner. The tribunal, 
the British delegate alone dissenting, decided that the Brit- 
ish government had "failed to use due diligence in the 
performance of its neutral obligations," and awarded the 
United States an indemnity of $15,500,000 (September 14, 
1872). 

Second Prime Ministry of Mr. Disraeli (February, 1874- 
April, 1880). — Mr. Disraeli was created a peer under the 
title of Lord Beaconsfield in August, 1876. His adminis- 
tration concerned itself little with domestic politics, but 
won spectacular triumphs in foreign affairs. One morning 
he announced in the House of Commons that he had secured 
Great Britain proprietary control of the Suez Canal by pur- 
chasing the shares of the khedive of Egypt for £4,000,000 
(February, 1876). He consolidated the authority of the 
queen over India by inducing her to assume the proud title 
of Kaiser-i-Hind, Empress of India, and by assembling a 
gorgeous durbar at Delhi, where all the chief native princes 
acclaimed Victoria as the successor of the Great Mogul 
(January, 1877). This dramatic ceremony made deeper 
impression upon the Oriental mind than any display of 
armies could have done. By peaceful convention with 
Turkey he acquired the island of Cyprus, which is of im- 
portance in commanding the Suez Canal, but, above all, 
counterbalances the Russian fortress of Kars and threatens 
the Syrian route to the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf 
(June 4, 1878). He imposed the Congress of Berlin on 
Russia (June, 1878), thus forcing that victorious empire to 
submit to the arbitrament of Europe and vindicating the 
principle that what concerns all cannot be decided by one 
alone. The territorial decisions of that congress, as of all 
similar international assemblies, were certain to be modi- 
fied by circumstances and time, but the fact that the con- 
gress convened was a striking diplomatic triumph for Great 
Britain. The reverse of the picture is found in the Zulu 
war (1877-1879), the attempted annexation of the Trans- 
vaal Republic (1878-1881) and the second Afghan war in 
search of "a scientific frontier" (1878-1881), none of which 
increased the reputation of British justice or British arms. 



136 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1880-1882. 

Lord Beaconsfield died a year after his departure from office 
(April 19, 1881). 

Second Prime Ministry of Mr. Gladstone (April, 1880- 
June, 1885). — The defeat of the University Bill for Ireland 
had thrown Mr. Gladstone from power in 1874. The Irish 
question thrust itself to the forefront throughout his second 
administration. In 1873 the Irish Home Rule movement 
had begun. Its founder, Mr. Butt, and his great successor 
in leadership, Mr. Parnell, were both Protestants. It 
sought self-government for Ireland in local affairs, but by 
legal means without violence. In 1879 the National Irish 
Land League was formed. It aimed at abolishing the 
iniquitous landlord system and introducing peasant pro- 
prietorship. The landlords were in the habit of evicting 
their tenants and the tenant of committing outrages in re- 
venge. The government passed a coercive act, arrested 
Mr. Parnell and the Irish leaders, threw them into prison 
and suppressed the Land League. Lord Frederick Caven- 
dish, chief secretary for Ireland, and Mr. Burke, permanent 
under-secretary, were assassinated in Phoenix Park, Dublin 
(May 5, 1882). In unhappy Ireland coercion and murder 
kept pace. 

Occupation of Egypt (1882). — The khedive acted as both 
ruler and proprietor of Egypt. The enormous loans which 
he had obtained in Europe resulted in the country being 
placed under the dual financial control of Great Britain and 
France. Rapidly succeeding khedives were lazy and weak 
and the interests of the natives were entirely ignored. 
France withdrew from the combination. Colonel Arabi 
Pasha raised the cry, "Egypt for the Egyptians," and began 
to fortify Alexandria. He desisted at the remonstrance of 
the British consul. A native mob plundered the European 
quarter and murdered several foreigners. Arabi Pasha 
went on with his defences. The British fleet bombarded 
the city, and meanwhile the infuriated populace massacred 
more than 2000 Europeans (July 12, 1882). Two days later 
the British forces disembarked and took possession. Arabi 
Pasha concentrated his army at Zagazig and Tel-el-Kebir. 
Attacked by General Wolseley (September 13), the Egyp- 
tians fought bravely, but finally took to flight, leaving 2000 
dead. Arabi Pasha was exiled to Ceylon and the British 
have since occupied Egypt. 

Mohammed Achmet, who proclaimed himself the Mahdi, 



a.d. 1882-1886.] GREAT BRITAIN 137 

raised his banner in the Soudan and defeated four Egyptian 
armies (1880-1882). Next he destroyed an anglo-Egyptian 
force of 10,000 men, commanded by General Hicks Pasha 
and forty European officers (October, 1883) . Of the host only 
two persons escaped death. General Gordon was sent from 
London (January 18, 1884) to extricate the Egyptian garri- 
sons still remaining in the Soudan. Just one month later 
(February 18) he reached Khartoum, which was at once 
invested by the Arabs. In desperate need of assistance he 
seemed to be forgotten by his government. Toward the 
end of the year a powerful expedition started with precipi- 
tate haste to his relief. A few days earlier it might have 
saved him. Before it arrived, Khartoum had been captured 
and Major-General Gordon, one of the saintliest and most 
heroic soldiers England ever produced, was slain by the 
Arabs on January 27, 1885. 

The Third Reform Bill (June, 1885). —This bill empha- 
sized the progress of Great Britain toward universal suf- 
frage, adding nearly 2,000,000 voters, largely from the 
agricultural classes, to the list. It redistricted the country 
on the basis of population and rectified the former undue 
proportion of members allowed the towns. Heretofore the 
towns had one deputy for every 41,200 inhabitants and the 
country districts one deputy for every 70,800. 

First Prime Ministry of Lord Salisbury (June, 1885-Feb- 
ruary, 1886). Third Prime Ministry of Mr. Gladstone (Feb- 
ruary, 1886-August, 1886). The Irish Home Rule Bill. — 
The liberal majority of 120 in the Commons had gradually 
shrunk to a minority. Lord Salisbury became prime min- 
ister. Five months afterwards Mr. Gladstone again took 
office. To the new House 335 liberals had been elected, 249 
conservatives and eighty-six Irish home rulers. The sys- 
tem of coercion pursued by Mr. Gladstone in his former 
ministry had utterly failed. Completely reversing his 
preceding policy, he introduced an Irish Home Rule Bill. 
The Irish members abandoned their temporary alliance with 
the conservatives and rallied to its support. But the bill 
was opposed by many liberal leaders, among them Lord 
Hartington, Mr. Goschen, Mr. Chamberlain and John 
Bright, who took the name of liberal unionists. It was 
defeated by a majority of thirty. Parliament was imme- 
diately dissolved. 

Second Prime Ministry of Lord Salisbury (Aug., 1886- 



138 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1886-1898. 

August, 1892). — The elections had given the conservatives 
and liberal unionists a majority of 112 over the Gladstonians 
and Irish home rulers combined. The policy of Lord Salis- 
bury's second administration was vigor in foreign relations 
and renewed coercion in Ireland. The Bering Sea contro- 
versy with the United States in regard to the seal fisheries 
began in 1886 and was supposed to have secured a settle- 
ment in 1893. Parliament dissolved in 1892, having filled 
its allotted span of six years. 

Fourth Prime Ministry of Mr. Gladstone (August, 1892- 
March, 1894). Lord Rosebery Prime Minister (March, 
1894- June, 1895). Third Prime Ministry of Lord Salisbury 
(June, 1895- ). — This time the united Gladstonians and 
Irish home rulers obtained a majority of forty-two, though 
among the English members there was an adverse majority 
of seventy. Mr. Gladstone was again prime minister. 
The Home Eule Bill, victorious in the House of Commons, 
was defeated in the House of Lords by a vote of more than 
ten to one. The venerable prime minister, at the age of 
eighty-four, resigned his high office, and advised the queen 
to intrust Lord Bosebery with the formation of a Cabinet. 

Dissensions and internal rivalries soon further weakened 
the liberal party. At the elections in July, 1895, the con- 
servatives obtained a clear majority and are no longer de- 
pendent on their still faithful allies, the liberal unionists, 
for support. The Irish question could not however be 
shelved. The ministry itself introduced an Irish Local 
Government Bill, which was approved by the House of 
Lords on July 29, 1898. The foreign policy of Lord Salis- 
bury in his present ministry has been less vigorous than of 
old. In international questions, like the Armenian massa- 
cres or the Cretan insurrection, Great Britain has been con- 
tent to act or to abstain from acting in concert with the 
great Powers. But no American should forget, when re- 
calling our struggle of this present year with Spain, that 
the sympathies of the British government and people were 
almost unanimously upon our side. Lord Salisbury and 
the Englishmen of 1898 have not repeated the blunder of 
Lord Palmerston and the Englishmen of 1861-1865. On 
May 19, 1898, Mr. Gladstone died at the age of eighty-eight, 
admired and regretted by the world. 

Characteristics of the Reign of Queen Victoria. — The first 
and most apparent is its length. Already the venerated 



a.d. 1838-1898.] GREAT BRITAIN 139 

queen has honored the throne for more than sixty-one years. 
Edward III was king for fifty years and George III for 
fifty-nine. Thus the present sovereign has surpassed all 
her predecessors in the length of her reign. In its pros- 
perity, its increasing imperial strength and its intellectual 
brilliancy, the only other English reign which can be brought 
into comparison is that of another woman, Queen Elizabeth. 
But the England of the sixteenth century was an undevel- 
oped child beside that giant among the nations, the British 
Empire of to-day. This reign is memorable for its constant 
advance in political reform. The Civil Service Reform 
(1853-1855), the Removal of all Disabilities from the Jews 
(1859), the Abolition of Army Purchase and University 
Religious Tests (1871), the Ballot Act (1872), the Act for 
the Prevention of Corrupt Practices at Elections (1883), the 
Plimsoll Act for the Better Protection of Seamen (1886), 
the Employers' Liability Bill (1897), are among those 
hard-wrung acquisitions which, once secured, contribute to 
make a nation strong and great. 

Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone. — Their swords first 
clashed in the House of Commons in February, 1852. The 
agony of their contest ended only when Gladstone pro- 
nounced his eloquent eulogy over the bier of his rival in 
April, 1881. Each thrice succeeded the other as chancellor 
of the exchequer. In the same year, 1868, both vaulted 
to the summit of British political ambition. Twice Mr. 
Disraeli gave place to Mr. Gladstone as prime minister. 
Disraeli, at first a radical, became a conservative, and Glad- 
stone, at first a conservative, became a liberal. In both 
there always remained something of their earlier political 
creed. Disraeli failed in his Reform Bill of 1859, but gave 
the workingmen the Reform Bill of 1868. Gladstone failed 
in his Reform Bill of 1867, but gave the agricultural classes 
the Reform Bill of 1884. Disraeli presented Great Britain 
with Cyprus, a province of the Sultan, and Gladstone pre- 
sented her with Egypt, another province of the Sultan. 
Both were endowed with unusual talent, but Gladstone was 
born in the purple of politics and Disraeli was the child of 
an ostracized race. To Gladstone honors came apparently 
unasked. To Disraeli honors came because he forced them 
to come. Each served Great Britain with his might. The 
figure of Gladstone, overshadowing because to-day removed 
from the world, hides to our eye the titanic proportions of 



140 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY 

his rival so long under the sod. But as both recede in the 
horizon of the past, the problem will constantly grow more 
difficult as to which was the greater. For nothing is the 
reign more memorable than that two such men, through 
almost a generation, were pitted against each other in a 
political duel such as the history of statecraft nowhere 
else presents. 




I. <•> T. t. Crgavell i C. 




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Eugraied by Collou, Ohinan i Co., N. 



PARTITION OF AFRICA, ASIA AND OCEANIA 141 



XVI 

PARTITION OP AFRICA, ASIA AND OCEANIA 

Seizure of Unoccupied Territory. — A main characteristic 
of contemporary history is the division among themselves 
by the European Powers of the " unoccupied " portions of 
the globe. By "unoccupied" are meant all regions, not 
already reckoned as possessions of European governments 
or held by descendants of Europeans who have burst colo- 
nial bonds and founded independent states. That is, those 
territories which are not controlled by Europeans, or by 
descendants of Europeans, are politically reckoned as not 
" occupied " at all. This is simply the application in the 
nineteenth century of the principle held unquestioned 400 
years ago. 

The newly discovered western hemisphere was looked 
upon and treated by European nations in the sixteenth cen- 
tury as land destitute of inhabitants, or at most lived upon 
by inhabitants who had no political and almost no other 
rights. The treaties made with the natives were generally, 
in the estimation of the new-comers, merely additional pre- 
cautions of self-defence, like the forts and stockades they 
built. As the stockades and forts were abandoned, when 
no longer of advantage, so, as the colonists grew strong, the 
treaties were commonly forgotten. The exceptional in- 
stances, when such was not the case, as in the dealings of 
William Penn, are dwelt upon as remarkable and awaken no 
more admiration than surprise. Some nations were less 
inhuman than others, but the process of converting the " un- 
occupied " into the " occupied " was everywhere the same. 
Nor did priority of occupation ensure possession to one 
European against another, unless it could be maintained by 
force. 

The entire theory and practice of sixteenth-century occu- 
pation has been revived, specially in the last half of the 
present century. The justice or injustice of its application 
has never changed. If it was right when, at the end of the 



142 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848- 

Middle Ages, undreamed of regions were revealed to the 
wonder of Europe, it is right now. If it was wrong then, 
it is wrong now. The relatively increased superiority of 
the civilized over the uncivilized in arms and efficiency has 
made latter-day conquest more speedy and more effectual. 
Often it has been no less stoutly resisted. But conquest 
has not been essential to political occupation. Hundreds 
of thousands of square miles have been "occupied" with 
hardly the firing of a shot. International conventions and 
agreements have indicated upon the map a partition of lands 
and peoples, of which meanwhile the human beings ap- 
propriated have known nothing. 

Before the year 1848 the Western hemisphere was "oc- 
cupied." The weakness of its smaller independent states, 
whose citizens were largely of European origin, was pro- 
tected by the Monroe doctrine of 1823. This doctrine 
declared that the American continents should not " be con- 
sidered as subjects for colonization by the European 
Powers." Upon this declaration Great Britain and France 
have been the only European Powers to infringe. 

But the grasp after empire in the Old World outside 
Europe during the last fifty years has been feverish and 
almost universal. It has repeated in spoliation and 
appropriation all that the New World ever experienced. 
Distance has counted for nothing, and sometimes the 
worthlessness of the acquisition no more. Technically the 
system of annexation has varied in different circumstances 
and at different times. Yet, reduced to plain terms, the 
process has been uniform and simple, merely to seize and 
to retain. Previous to 1848 only a relatively small propor- 
tion of Africa, Asia and Oceania had been "occupied." 
Now in Oceania there is hardly an island over which there 
does not float a European flag. Africa has been parcelled 
out among the Powers as half a dozen heirs might divide 
the farm of some intestate dead man. Asia, most venerable 
in history, mother of the nations, has been compressed in a 
grip ever tightening around her receding frontiers, or has 
resembled an island whose diminishing outer rim the 
aggressive waters rapidly wear away. 

Occupation of Africa. — In 1848 isolated European colo- 
nies dotted the coasts of Africa, but less than 400,000 square 
miles of territory acknowledged European proprietorship. 
Away inland from this sparse outer fringe stretched a vague 



1898.] PARTITION OF AFRICA, ASIA AND OCEANIA 143 

vastitude of 11,000,000 square miles, unpossessed and un- 
explored. All this enormous territory has been mapped out 
and divided up. The German Empire has taken 1,000,000 
square miles; Belgium in the Congo Free State 900,000; 
France 2,900,000; Portugal 800,000; and other less for- 
midable national adventurers 500,000 more. In all Africa 
Morocco, Abyssinia, Liberia and a portion of the unbounded 
Sahara are the only regions to which European Powers do 
not put forth a claim. 

Great Britain has already secured over 3,000,000 square 
miles. The present expedition up the Nile (August, 1898), 
under General Kitchener, aims at the conquest of the Sou- 
dan between Egypt and British East, or Equatorial, Africa. 
Its already assured success renders possible at no distant 
day the completion of a British trans-African railway, over 
5000 miles long, from Alexandria to Cape Town, passing 
all the way through British territory. 

The Boer Republics. — Nor has later occupation respected 
prior rights of European settlers, except as vindicated by 
arms. The Boers, descendants of the early Dutch colo- 
nists, a simple, primitive, Bible-reading people, emigrated 
from Cape Colony, after it became a Britis^h possession, and 
founded on the north and along the coast the Dutch Kepub- 
lic of Natal. The British, whose only claim was founded 
on superior strength, conquered and annexed this republic 
in 1843. Again the Boers emigrated, this time to the west 
and the interior, and founded the Orange Free State and the 
Transvaal, or South African Republic. The independence 
of both was formally recognized by the British government. 
To overthrow these two states ana annex their territory of 
168,000 square miles has been the constant endeavor of the 
British colonies of Natal, Cape of Good Hope and Rhodesia, 
which surround the Boer states except on the northeast. 
The British government was persuaded to proclaim the an- 
nexation of the Transvaal (April 12, 1877), but the Boers 
successfully resisted, by arms, this assault upon their inde- 
pendence. Likewise, in 1896, they defeated and captured 
a British force which, in violation of all treaties, was march- 
ing against their capital. Any participation in this attack 
was disclaimed by the British government, but the absorp- 
tion of the brave little republics is only a question of time. 

Occupation of Asia. — Asia might appear inviolable with 
her immensity of 14,700,000 square miles and her popula- 



144 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848- 

tion of 850,000,000 souls. Her countless hordes, set in re- 
sistless motion by a sudden common impulse, were until 
modern times the terror of mankind. Genghis Khan has 
not been dead 700 years nor Tamerlane 500. Yet, except 
Japan, which was galvanized into unwilling life by the 
United States in 1853 and seemingly sure of existence for 
the present, all Asia is at the mercy of Europe and protected 
only by the jealousies of the Western states. While other 
nations are active in their struggle after a share in Asiatic 
spoils, her conquest and division is being accomplished 
above all by Great Britain and Eussia. "^tween the upper, 
or northern, millstone of Russia and the k wer, or southern, 
millstone of Great Britain, she is being ground with the 
remorselessness of fate. 

The barriers of the Caucasus were overthrown by the 
surrender of the Circassians and Schamyl (1859) to Prince 
Bariatinski. The Caspian has become a Russian lake. 
Nominally independent Persia is so completely under Rus- 
sian influence as to resemble a protectorate. Across the 
subjugated khanates of Bokhara (1873), Khokand (1875), 
and Khiva (1875), Russia has pushed her outposts as far as 
the Tien Shan, or Celestial Mountains. By Turkestan, Si- 
beria and Manchuria she envelops China on the west, north 
and northeast in a great concave. 

In Southern Asia, Beloochistan, since 1854, has gradually 
disintegrated into a British "political agency." Afghan- 
istan, on which Great Britain has expended millions of 
pounds and thousands of lives, still maintains a fluctuating, 
savage independence. Its emir, Abdur Rahman, elated 
with his successes, assumed (1896) the pompous Afghan 
title of "Light of Union and Religion," but the division of 
his states between the two empires is not thereby rendered 
remote. One-eighth of the Asiatic continent and more than 
a third of its entire population are contained in British 
India. By the acquisition of the feudatory state of Sikkim 
(1889) Great Britain plunges through the Himalayas and 
imperils China on the south. The kingdom of Burmah was 
attacked and annexed to the British dominions in 1885. 
To Singapore have been gradually annexed, mostly since 
1848, the petty states of the Malay Peninsula under the 
name of the Straits Settlements. 

The disintegration of the Chinese Empire was begun by 
the British in the opium war (1839-1842), by which the 



1898.] PARTITION OF AFRICA, ASIA AND OCEANIA 145 

island of Hong Kong was acquired. The opposite penin- 
sula of Kau-Lung was ceded to Great Britain after the 
English and French wars with China in 1856-1860. Man- 
churia, north of the Amur and east of the Usuri, was ceded 
to Russia in 1860. 

France, eager for Asiatic territory, annexed Cochin-China 
(1861), Cambodia (1862), Anam and Tonking (1884) and 
Siam east of the Mekong River (1893-1896), altogether an 
area of 383,000 square miles. 

Japan, in one respect at least, caught the European spirit. 
She was emulous pi similar conquests. After more than 
three years of careful and extensive preparation she believed 
herself ready and forced war on China (1894). The latter 
was wholly unprepared. Japan was everywhere victorious, 
both on sea and land. By the treaty of Shimonoseki (April 
16, 1895), the conquerors compelled the cession of the island 
of Formosa (15,000 square miles) and an indemnity of 230,- 
000,000 taels. Only the intervention of Russia, Germany 
and France rescued northeastern China from dismemberment 
by Japan. 

During the last twelve months the Western Powers have 
engaged in rivalry, thus far without warfare, to acquire 
Chinese ports. The Germans obtained Kiao-chau (Decem- 
ber, 1897), the Russians Port Arthur and Talien Wan 
(April, 1897) and the British Wei-Hai-Wei (April, 1897). 

China is helpless to protect herself. No state is inter- 
ested to defend her territorial integrity. A concession to 
any single Power awakens the jealousies of the rest, and 
its natural sequence is the demand for an equivalent. To 
all she is vulnerable along the Yellow, the Eastern and the 
South China seas. To only two, Great Britain and Russia, 
is she vulnerable by land. So, to her perils from all by 
water are added perils, more insidious because less mani- 
fest, from the two most powerful empires in the world. 
They hem her in upon the north, west and south, and no 
mountain boundaries are too high for the Russian and the 
Englishman to scale. 

Occupation of Oceania. — Oceania is a comprehensive 
and elastic term, commonly denoting the islands of the 
Pacific and Indian oceans. The largest of these, Australia, 
because of its prodigious extent of over 3,000,000 square 
miles, is often reckoned a continent. It is a British pos- 
session. Now inhabited by an active population of more 



146 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848- 

than 3,500,000 people, its first settlement dates from the 
middle, and its division into the five great constitutional 
states of Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, South 
Australia and Western Australia from the last half of the 
nineteenth century. 

Papua, or New Guinea, "the largest island in the world," 
has been parcelled out between three Powers, Germany in 
1884 acquiring 72,000 square miles under the name of 
Kaiser Wilhelm's land; Great Britain in 1888 acquiring 
90,000 square miles; while the remainder, 150,000 square 
miles, is held by the Netherlands. 

In Borneo, which is situated half-way between Australia 
and Hong Kong, a gradual accretion, since 1836, resulted 
in a formal British protectorate (1888-1890) over British 
North Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak and the Limbang River 
district, altogether about 81,000 square miles. Its remain- 
ing 203,000 square miles belong to the Netherlands. 

Madagascar, with its 228,500 square miles, is reckoned 
"the third largest island in the world." After a long suc- 
cession of wars with the natives on the part of the French, 
it was recognized by Great Britain as a protectorate of 
France (1890) and became fully a French possession in 
1896. 

The three islands of Tasmania, or New Zealand, comprise 
103,900 square miles. They received their first immigrants 
in 1839. A little territory was ceded by the native chiefs 
during the following year. Great Britain was able to assert 
an undisputed control in 1875. 

Among the myriad other islands are the more than 1200 
Philippines and the Carolines, Sulus and Ladrones, which 
for centuries have belonged to Spain, but whose destiny is 
now undetermined. Their area is 116,256 square miles. 
There are also the Moluccas and Java and Sumatra and 
many others with spicy names, making an area of 338,000 
square miles, which, together with the Dutch territories in 
Borneo and New Guinea, constitute the Dutch East Indies. 
They have belonged to the Netherlands since the dissolution 
of the Dutch East India Company in 1798. 

In the Pacific Great Britain acquired the 200 Fiji Islands, 
8045 square miles, by cession of the native chiefs (1874) ; 
Pitcairn Island (1839) ; Labuan Island (1846) ; the twelve 
Manihikis (1888) ; the sixteen atolls called the Gilbert 
Islands (1892); Maiden Island, rich in guano (1866); and 



1898.] PARTITION OF AFRICA, ASIA AND OCEANIA 147 

eighteen islands of the Santa Cruz and Duff groups (1898). 
She has also secured, mostly since 1848, the fifteen Hervey, 
or Cook Islands, the Palmerston Islands, Ducie Island, the 
Suvarof Islands, Dudoza Island, Victoria Island, the five 
clusters of the Tokelau or Union Islands, the eight Phoenix 
Islands, the islands and groups of the Lagoons, Starbuck 
Island, Jarvis Island, Christmas Island, Fanning Island, 
Washington Island and Palmyra Island. She acquired 
the southern half of the Solomon Islands (1893), Germany 
having seized the northern half of that archipelago in 1886. 
The New Hebrides Islands have been shared by Great 
Britain and France. To the thriving Island of Mauritius, 
taken from the French (1810), Great Britain has since added 
in one colonial dependency the Bodrigues, Seychelles, 
Amirantes, Cargados and the Oil Groups. The indepen- 
dence is at present recognized of the 150 Tonga, or Friendly 
Islands. So is that of the Samoan Islands by convention 
between Germany, Great Britain and the United States in 
1889. 

The Route to India. — To fortify the sea route to India and 
to hold the natural strongholds in the Bed Sea, the Persian 
Gulf and the Indian Ocean, from which the British Indian 
Empire might be threatened, has been the untiring preoccu- 
pation of British statesmen. This has been rendered neces- 
sary by the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869. The chain 
of Gibraltar (1704), Malta (1800), Cyprus (1878) and the Suez 
Canal itself (1876) is continued by the volcanic peninsula 
of Aden (1839), since enlarged by an acquired protectorate 
over an inland region of 8000 square miles, by Perim Island 
(1857), Sokotra Island (1876) and the Kuria Muria Islands 
off the Arabian coast. These last acquisitions guard the 
Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb and render the waters of the Bed 
Sea more distinctively British than is St. George's Channel 
between England and Ireland. The eight Bahrein Islands, 
famous for their pearls, since 1857 sentinel in British inter- 
ests the mouth of the Persian Gulf. "With what might seem 
superfluous solicitude Great Britain annexed the Andaman 
Islands (1858) with a territory of 1760 square miles, the 
nineteen Nicobar Islands (1869) with a territory of 634 
square miles, and the numerous coral group of the Lacca- 
dives with 744 square miles. 

Results of Territorial Expansion. — In this movement of 
territorial expansion four nations have led the van. Dur- 



148 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1848- 

ing the last fifty years Great Britain has taken possession 
of over 3,600,000 square miles of " unoccupied " territory, 
France of over 3,200,000 square miles and Russia and 
Germany of about 1,200,000 square miles apiece. Some of 
these acquisitions have been prompted only by lust for mere 
land or to forestall some other grasper. Increase of area 
always gratifies national vanity, but it by no means always 
indicates or secures corresponding increase in national 
wealth and strength. 

Whatever the French and German colonial possessions 
may become in the future, thus far they have proved only 
a burden and a cause of expense without proportionate gain. 
In France, where the population is almost stationary, the 
land well divided among many petty proprietors and the 
colonial instinct weak, there is little to impel to emigration. 
Algeria is close to France, separated only by the width of 
the Mediterranean. Its natural advantages are great. No- 
where could French colonization have a more accessible and 
a more attractive field. Yet, after sixty -eight years of occu- 
pancy, the French colonists are fewer in number than those 
from the other European states, and the annual expenditure 
— not including interest on the growing debt nor necessary 
appropriations for the army and navy nor the cost of origi- 
nal conquest — exceeds the revenue by more than 19,000,- 
000 francs. In the same way other and remoter French 
possessions, like Anam, Tonking, Madagascar and Cochin- 
Chin a, make no effective appeal to French emigrants and 
are exhaustive drains upon the resources of France. 

The Germans are a more prolific people than the French 
and more adventurous. Unequal distribution of land in 
their native country and social inequality render them ready 
emigrants. But they show disinclination to colonize where 
the imperial German system prevails. The Kameruns in 
Africa have been a colony for thirteen years. Their coast 
line is more than 200 miles long and their area more than 
191,000 square miles. But in 1897 they had only 181 Ger- 
man residents. In Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, German since 
1884, there were in 1896 only ninety-seven Germans. That 
is, in both colonies united there were not so many German 
emigrants as constantly cross the Atlantic from Bremen in 
a single ship. There is not a state in the American Union 
in which there are not to-day from four times to 1200 times 
as many German-born inhabitants as in both these two pet 



1898.] PARTITION OF AFRICA, ASIA AND OCEANIA 149 

colonies of the Kaiser. There are few if any German 
colonial dependencies where the revenue is a third of the 
expenditure. 

The acquisitions of Eussia and Great Britain, on the 
other hand, have been made in accordance with the nature 
of their people and on the lines of a sound policy. Neither 
has been tempted by mere territorial aggrandizement to 
acquire or retain what was without value or might become 
a source of weakness. So Eussia was ready to sell Alaska, 
in 1867, to the United States and to give Japan, in 1875, 
the Kurile Islands in exchange for the southern half of 
Saghalien. Likewise, Great Britain, in 1864, could cede 
the Ionian Islands to Greece ; and Heligoland, in 1890, to 
Germany. 

Eussia is an immense, continuous land empire, situated 
in the north with a minimum of coast line. Her northern 
harbors are closed by ice through a large part of the year, 
and her southern harbors are prevented by physical or other 
causes from free access to great bodies of water. Her nat- 
ural expansion would be eastward, southward and toward 
the sea. Thus in the Caucasus, the Ottoman Empire, 
Persia, Turkestan and China she has ever pushed in this 
direction. Her conquests she easily assimilates and amal- 
gamates their inhabitants to her own people. 

Britain, the island centre of the British Empire, has no 
other highway than the seas. Her people are active, ven- 
turesome and aggressive. The contracted limits of the 
island force the expatriation of its prolific children. No 
other people equal them as colonizers and no other are so 
at home the world over. Commercial instinct joins with 
marvellous manufacturing ability to seek and find every- 
where a market. As the development of Eussia is inevi- 
table and resistless by land, so is the development of Great 
Britain inevitable and resistless by sea. 



150 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1818-1853. 



XVII 

THE UNITED STATES 

American History. — The most important of all histories 
to an American is that of his own country. Not only does 
it appeal to his patriotism, but in it is found as nowhere 
else the story of self-government by the people. Moreover, 
during the last fifty years few nations have equalled the 
United States in contributions to the sum of human welfare 
and progress. A history so interesting and comprehensive 
cannot be summed up nor will it be sought in the limited 
compass of any compendium. This book deals primarily 
with European history. It will therefore be the object of 
this chapter to merely touch upon those points wherein 
the United States have come in contact with the rest of the 
world, rather than to narrate internal and domestic affairs. 

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). The Gadsden Pur- 
chase (1853). The last half century is bounded at both its 
beginning and end by a war, the one with Mexico, the 
most powerful and most populous of the Spanish-American 
states, and the other, in 1898, with Spain herself. The 
first war, after a series of American successes, was termi- 
nated by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 
1848). Thereby the United States secured from Mexico 
the cession of 526,078 square miles and agreed to pay in 
return $ 15,000,000 and to satisfy claims of American citi- 
zens against Mexico to the amount of $3,250,000. This 
cession was rounded out in 1853, when Mr. Gadsden, for 
the sum of $10,000,000, purchased from Mexico, to which 
he was the American minister, 45,535 square miles south 
of the river Gila. From the region thus acquired have 
been carved California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and part 
of Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. 

The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850). — Intense excitement 
followed the discovery of gold in California early in 1848. 
During the following year between 80,000 and 100,000 eager 
gold hunters crowded to the newly opened mines. The 







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a.d. 1850-1854.] THE UNITED STATES 151 

United States already enjoyed the right of transit across 
the Isthmus of Panama, but it was of supreme importance to 
open up direct water communication with the distant terri- 
tory. The consent and cooperation of Nicaragua was ob- 
tained by treaty for the construction of a ship canal from 
San Juan on the Atlantic through the lake of Nicaragua to 
the Pacific coast. But Great Britain claimed to exercise a 
protectorate over the Mosquito Indians, who were supposed 
to occupy the eastern coast through which the canal was to 
pass. She refused to permit its joint construction by Nica- 
ragua and the United States. In the subsequent negotia- 
tions between Mr. Clayton, the American secretary of state, 
and Sir Henry Bulwer, the British ambassador at Wash- 
ington, who acted in behalf of the British government, 
Great Britain scored the diplomatic victory known as the 
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. By this treaty both the United 
States and Great Britain renounced any exclusive control 
over the proposed ship canal. At the same time, they both 
agreed to neither occupy, fortify nor colonize Nicaragua, 
Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast or any part of Central 
America. The British government asserts that the first 
clause of the treaty is still in force. The American govern- 
ment, on the other hand, maintains that, as " Great Britain 
has persistently violated her agreement not to colonize the 
Central American coast," the treaty is void. The Spanish- 
American war of 1898 has even increased the necessity of a 
canal connecting the two oceans and has emphasized the 
fact that it must be under the unshared control of the 
United States. 

Complications with Austria (1849-1854). — Great sympa- 
thy was felt for the Hungarians in their struggle with Aus- 
tria. An agent was sent by President Taylor to obtain 
definite information as to whether recognition of the revo- 
lutionary government was warranted. Afterwards the 
frigate Mississippi was commissioned to bring the exiled 
leader, Kossuth, to the United States, where he was re- 
ceived with great enthusiasm. The Austrian charge 
d'affaires at Washington sharply protested against the 
despatch of the agent and the reception of Kossuth. Daniel 
Webster had become secretary of state. He replied in a 
powerful state paper, setting forth the principles by which 
the American nation considered itself controlled in dealing 
with international affairs. 



152 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1852-1854. 

Later on trouble arose over Martin Koszta, a Hungarian 
refugee, who had filed (1852) his declaration preliminary 
to naturalization as an American citizen. Visiting Smyrna 
in Asia Minor, in 1854, he was seized at the instigation of 
the Austrian consul-general by the crew of an Austrian 
frigate and thrown into irons. This was in contempt of 
the fact that he had an American passport in his posses- 
sion. Demands for his release were refused. Thereupon 
the captain of an American man-of-war, then in the harbor, 
prepared to use force and cleared his deck for action. 
Koszta was then placed by the Austrians under the charge 
of the French consul-general, and was soon afterwards 
allowed to return to America. 

The Ostend Manifesto (1854.) — The acquisition of Cuba, 
"the gem of the Antilles," was ardently desired by the 
Southern states of the American Union. Its chronic mis- 
government called forth their sympathy, but, above all, 
if a possession of the United States, it would add to their 
political power. Under the direction of President Pierce 
Messrs. Buchanan, Mason and Soule, the American minis- 
ters to Great Britain, France and Spain, met at Ostend to 
consult as to the measures necessary for its acquisition 
(1854). Then they issued the results of their deliberations 
in what is called the Ostend Manifesto. This paper set 
forth the grounds on which the annexation of the island was 
desired. It caused a profound sensation and a measure of 
apprehension in Europe. 

Commodore Perry's Expedition to Japan (1852-1854). — 
In 1637 all foreign traders, except the Dutch and the Chi- 
nese, were expelled from Japan. By exceptional favor the 
Dutch were permitted to occupy the small, artificial island 
of Deshima in the harbor of Nagasaki. Their commerce 
however was severely restricted, no vessels being allowed 
to enter except one merchantman a year from Batavia, the 
capital of the Dutch East Indies. Up to the middle of the 
present century the Japanese jealously maintained their 
seclusion from the rest of mankind. The country suffered 
under a dual system of government, whereby the power of 
the de jure ruler, who resided at Kioto, was curtailed by 
the de facto ruler, the shogun, who resided at Yedo or 
Tokio. Meanwhile a party of less illiberal ideas was grow- 
ing up which, while detesting the foreigners, desired to 
gain from abroad whatever advantages it could. It was 



A.D. 1853-1867.] THE UNITED STATES 153 

ignorant and ill-informed, but appreciated the superiority 
of foreign arms, arts and inventions. 

Suddenly, without previous intimation of its coming, an 
American fleet made its appearance in the bay of Yedo 
(July 8, 1853). The astounded city was terror-stricken. 
No such sight had ever been seen in Japanese waters. 
That fleet had left America late in 1852 under the command 
of Commodore Perry, who was invested with extraordinary 
powers for the conclusion of treaties with Japan. As the 
bearer of a letter from President Fillmore, he refused to 
enter into communication with any except the highest dig- 
nitaries in the land. The Japanese were perplexed but 
courteous. The letter was delivered to the emperor. Then 
Commodore Perry sailed away, but returned in the follow- 
ing spring for his answer. His diplomatic ability after 
tedious negotiations partially broke down the bars of sepa- 
ration. It was agreed that the ports of Shimoda and Hako- 
date should be open to American vessels, that an American 
consul should reside at Shimoda and that Americans should 
enjoy a certain liberty of trade and travel in some of the 
coast cities. This first treaty between Japan and a foreign 
state was signed on May 31, 1854. The other nations in 
quick succession sought and obtained the same advantages. 
But it was the honor of the United States to have led the 
way. Without the firing of a shot she had opened Japan 
to the brotherhood of nations, and had brought Western 
civilization and commerce to her ports. 

The United States and China (1858-1892). —The war car- 
ried on by the allied British and French against China in 
1856-1860 gave much concern to the American government. 
Hon. W. B. Reed was sent by President Buchanan to watch 
the course of events and mediate if possible between the 
contending parties. On behalf of his government he nego- 
tiated a commercial treaty with the Chinese, wherein the 
language of several clauses reveals their well-founded sus- 
picion of Western aims and methods. For six years (1861- 
1867) Hon. Anson Burlingame was American minister to 
the "Middle Kingdom." His rare tact made him the vir- 
tual director of the empire in its foreign relations. When 
about to return home, he was tendered and accepted the 
high position of envoy extraordinary from China to the 
Western Powers. With French and British secretaries and 
Chinese attaches he returned to his native country, and 



154 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1861-1865. 

there negotiated a treaty, advantageous and honorable to 
both China and the United States, which was approved on 
July 16, 1868. Ten years later (1878) a Chinese embassy 
was established at Washington, when Chen Lan Pin was 
received by President Hayes as minister plenipotentiary. 
Fourteen years later still the Chinese Exclusion Act was 
introduced to " absolutely prohibit the coming of Chinese 
persons to the United States." Its object was to prevent 
the immigration of Chinese laborers. Their immigration 
had assumed so large proportions as to cause anxiety, spe- 
cially on the Pacific coast. The bill, called the Geary Act 
because introduced by Mr. Geary of California, after some 
modifications was approved by both Houses and received the 
signature of President Harrison (May 5, 1892). 

The Civil War (1861-1865). —The question of slavery 
had become the most persistent and complex in American 
political life. Prominent ever since the foundation of the 
Union, gradually it had crowded all other questions to the 
background. In 1860 fifteen states employed slave labor. 
The sixteen other states did not. The former were com- 
monly called Southern or slave states, and the latter North- 
ern or free states. The presidential election of 1860 
disclosed the nation drawn up in sectional lines. Mr. Lin- 
coln uttered a great truth when he declared, in 1858, that, 
" This government cannot permanently endure half slave 
and half free. ... It will become all one thing or all the 
other." An overwhelming electoral defeat proved to the 
Southern states that they could not in the Union extend their 
peculiar labor system beyond their own borders. Inside 
their own borders they believed that system in danger. 
Eleven states asserted that they had a right to secede, 
passed enactments withdrawing from the Union, and formed 
a political association under the name of the Confederate 
States of America. 

The corner-stone of the new state edifice was slavery. 
The eleven states had seceded in order to extend, or at least 
perpetuate, slavery. The great majority of the other states 
regarded secession as a crime and took up arms to maintain 
the Union. The seceded states took up arms to vindicate 
their right of secession. Slavery had brought on the armed 
conflict, but the perpetuity or dissolution of the American 
Union was the vital issue. 

The first gun was fired when Fort Sumter, off Charleston, 



a.d. 1861-1865.] THE UNITED STATES 155 

South Carolina, was attacked by the Confederate General 
Beauregard, on April 12, 1861. The surrender of the Con- 
federate General Lee to General Grant took place at Appo- 
mattox Court House, in Virginia, on April 9, 1865. These 
two events mark the armed beginning and conclusion of a 
civil war which, as to the number of soldiers engaged, the 
number of battles fought and the cost of the struggle, is 
unequalled in history. To maintain the Union the Federal 
government brought into the field 2,778,304 soldiers. To 
overthrow the Union the Confederate government brought 
into the field nearly 1,000,000. Altogether in that four 
years' agony there were 2265 engagements, ranging from 
petty skirmishes between handfuls of men up to pitched 
battles lasting for days and fought with ferocious determina- 
tion between hundreds of thousands. Over 360,000 Federal 
soldiers fell in battle or died of wounds or disease. The 
Federal debt at the conclusion of the struggle had swollen 
to $2,808,549,437.55. The entire cost to the victorious 
party is commonly reckoned at $8,000,000,000, figures so 
vast that they baffle realization. " Never in the same space 
of time has there been a material expenditure so great." 

The arbitrament of the sword decided two questions which, 
with equal definiteness and permanence, could be determined 
in no other way. The first question concerned the American 
Union, the permanence of which was demonstrated and 
guaranteed. There was to be but one flag from the Atlan- 
tic to the Pacific, from the Lakes to the Gulf. The second 
question concerned the system of human slavery, which was 
abolished upon the continent. Under the protection of that 
flag all were to be free men. 

On April 14, 1865, the great-hearted president, Mr. Lin- 
coln, was smitten down by the hand of an assassin. In his 
arduous office he had so borne himself as to win the respect 
and admiration, not only of his own country, but of the 
world. His murder called forth universal expressions of 
grief and horror. 

When the war ended there was no proscription of the con- 
quered; no court martials or gibbets blackened the land. 
The survivors of the victorious and vanquished hosts re- 
turned at once to the ordinary avocations of life, and, with 
no shock to the body politic, devoted themselves to the 
pursuits of peace. But all the disorders of a four years' 
war could not disappear in a day. It is not strange that 



156 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1861-1876. 

secession, even after it was overthrown, left the seceded 
states in an anomalous condition. The so-called period of 
reconstruction lasted for twelve years. 

Most of the foreign Powers, at least their governing 
classes, had never believed in the stability of the American 
Republic. At first Europe considered the Civil War certain 
to result in the dissolution of the Union. Except as in- 
volving larger masses of men and spread in a wider area, it 
was regarded somewhat as we are wont to look upon revo- 
lutions and commotions in the states of Central or South 
America. As it progressed the world looked on aghast at 
the proportions of the struggle, but continued incredulous 
of Federal success. Napoleon III and a powerful party in 
Great Britain wished to recognize the Southern Confederacy. 
Such recognition would have plunged the American govern- 
ment in war with Great Britain and France, at a time when 
its utmost resources were strained in the effort to overthrow 
the Confederacy. It was the statesmanship of Mr. Seward, 
secretary of state, and the diplomacy of Mr. Adams, min- 
ister to the Court of St. James, which rescued the nation 
from imminent foreign peril. But they could not prevent 
the fitting out of the Alabama and of her ten sister corsairs 
in British ports, which swept American commerce from the 
sea. The final adjustment of the Alabama claims is narrated 
in the chapter on the British Empire. 

Question of the Northwestern Boundary (1872). — The 
water boundary on the northwestern frontier between the 
United States and the British possessions was still in dis- 
pute. A group of islands, of which San Juan, "the Cron- 
stadt of the Pacific," was the most important, formed the 
so-called Haro Archipelago in the waters between Vancou- 
ver Island and Washington Territory. To these islands 
both the United States and Great Britain laid claim. The 
question was submitted by the two interested parties to the 
German emperor for arbitration. His decision assigned 
the entire group to the United States. 

The Centennial Exhibition (1876). —This year the United 
States celebrated the hundredth anniversary of indepen- 
dence. It was felt that in no way could that great event 
be more fitly honored than by an exhibition in which all 
the nations of the world should be invited to take part. The 
appropriate spot for such a gathering was the historic city 
in which the Declaration of Independence had been signed. 



a.d. 1876-1877.] THE UNITED STATES 157 

With small assistance in the labor and cost on the part of 
the national government, the project was carried to a tri- 
umphant conclusion. The city of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania, and some of the thirteen original colonies were 
specially instrumental in its success. The exhibition was 
opened by President Grant. It was visited by 9,910,000 
persons. There were over 30,000 exhibitors. Spain and 
her colonies made a more numerous display than did any 
other foreign state. 

The Newfoundland Fisheries. The Halifax Award (1877) . 
— The treaties with Great Britain after the Revolutionary 
War and the War of 1812 left the rights of American fisher- 
men off the coast of Newfoundland in a state of irritating 
uncertainty. Nor did subsequent efforts to adjust their 
grievances meet much success. The definite specifications 
of the treaty of Washington (1871), it was claimed by the 
British government, granted greater advantages in the 
fisheries to the Americans than to its own subjects. It was 
decided that a commission of arbitration should determine 
the compensation which ought to be paid therefor by the 
United States. The two commissioners being unable to 
agree, the Austrian ambassador to London was invited to 
nominate a third member. He named the Belgian minister 
to the United States. Meeting at Halifax (1877) the arbi- 
trators decided, by a vote of two to one, that the United 
States should pay "$ 5,500, 000 for the use of the fishery 
privileges for twelve years." 

The Presidential Election of 1876. — After a campaign of 
unusual vigor the result was disputed. Mr. Tilden, the 
democratic candidate, had received a plurality in the popu- 
lar vote of 250,000 over Mr. Hayes, his republican oppo- 
nent. But the election was to be decided by the votes of 
369 electors, chosen by the several states. The democratic 
party claimed 203 of these votes, allowing 166 to the repub- 
licans. The republicans claimed 185, allowing 184 to the 
democrats. The four votes of Florida, the eight votes of 
Louisiana and the seven votes of South Carolina were 
claimed by both parties. There were also difficulties as to 
the vote of Oregon. The Constitution provided no way for 
meeting the emergency of a contested presidential election. 
From November 7, 1876, until March 2, 1877, the whole 
country was in intense excitement. Any solution was 
preferable to civil war. An extraordinary commission was 



158 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1876-1883. 

created. It comprised five justices of the Supreme Court, 
five senators and five members of the House of Representa- 
tives, and it was to decide. The commission consisted of 
eight republicans and seven democrats. By a strict party 
vote and a majority of one, Mr. Hayes was declared presi- 
dent. The entire nation at once accepted the verdict. It 
had passed through the most trying crisis in its political 
history. No severer test could have been applied to the 
patriotism and the love of peace of the American people. 

Assassination of President Garfield (1881). — General Gar- 
field had been chosen to succeed President Hayes and was 
inaugurated March, 1881. With Mr. Blaine, the secre- 
tary of state, he was about to take a train at the Baltimore 
and Potomac Railway station in Washington (July 2, 
1881) when he was shot down by a half-crazy politician. 
The murderer, disappointed in his hopes of securing the 
consul-generalship at Paris, had resolved upon this revenge. 
The president lingered between life and death, and in great 
suffering, until September 19. His unflinching patience 
and heroism, together with detestation of the crime, awoke 
profound and. equal sympathy both at home and abroad. 

Civil Service Reform Bill (1883). — Appointment to civil 
office, even in the early days of the Republic, was based 
largely upon the principle of reward for party service. An 
incoming administration, on finding lucrative and important 
positions in the hands of political antagonists, replaced 
them by its own adherents. Thus a spoils system was 
rapidly developed. Under it a new executive was expected, 
and even required, to distribute among his own adherents 
the offices as a sort of conquered property. Furthermore, 
the incumbents were heavily assessed for contributions to 
party expenses. Various presidents denounced the abuse, 
with which none seemed strong enough to cope. The Na- 
tional Civil Service Reform League, founded in 1881, sought 
to substitute the spoils system by a merit system, deter- 
mined by competitive examination. After much agitation, 
in 1883, the Civil Service Reform Bill, which had been in- 
troduced by Senator Pendleton of Ohio, was passed. This 
act applied to more than 14,000 offices, about one-half of 
which were in departments at Washington, and in twenty- 
five specified custom offices, and the other half in twenty- 
three post-offices. The act also aimed at the suppression 
of political assessments among officers of the government. 



a.d. 1883-1892.] THE UNITED STATES 159 

The Bering Sea Controversy over the Seal Fisheries (1886- 
1898). — The United States claimed, by the purchase of 
Alaska, to have acquired exclusive rights in Bering Sea. 
To protect the fur seals, which were in danger of extermi- 
nation, it seized Canadian vessels engaged in the seal fishery 
in those waters (1886). The controversy arising was sub- 
mitted to international arbitration. The commissioners 
met at Paris (1893), and their decisions were in the main 
unfavorable to the contention of the United States. But 
they unanimously prescribed regulations which, if enforced 
by the governments of the United States and Great Britain, 
would have been sufficient to prevent the extinction of a 
valuable industry. In 1894 the Canadian sealers agreed to 
accept $425,000 in full settlement of their claims against 
the United States, but the dispute is not yet closed. 

Trouble with Chili (1891-1892). —In the Chilian civil 
war (1891), which ended with the overthrow and suicide of 
President Balmaceda, the American minister had shown an 
injudicious and active sympathy for the defeated party. 
Afterwards he had afforded them an asylum at his legation 
and extended them his protection on their endeavor to leave 
the country. The Chilian authorities complained at this 
interference with their domestic affairs, but could obtain 
no redress from Washington. Soon afterwards some sail- 
ors of the American man-of-war, Baltimore, on landing at 
Valparaiso were attacked by a mob. Two sailors were 
killed and eighteen wounded. When satisfaction was 
demanded, the Chilian minister of foreign affairs, Senor 
Matta, gave an insulting reply. During the next month he 
fell from office. His successor instructed the Chilian min- 
ister at Washington to make an ample apology. Soon 
afterwards he requested the recall of the American minis- 
ter, Mr. Egan, as a persona non grata. The American 
government was dissatisfied with the investigation of the 
murder of the sailors, refused to withdraw Mr. Egan, sent 
Chili an ultimatum and prepared for war. On January 23, 
1892, President Harrison communicated a lengthy message 
to Congress, wherein he narrated the whole controversy in 
detail. On that same day, before the despatch of the presi- 
dential message, a humble and comprehensive apology was 
on its way from Chili, which prevented any further hostile 
demonstration. 

The Columbian Exhibition (1893). — America was disco v- 



160 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1892-1893. 

ered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. The American 
government and people determined that the 400th anniver- 
sary of that event should be celebrated in a manner com- 
mensurate with its magnitude. It was decided to request 
all mankind to participate in a commemorative world's fair, 
to be held at Chicago, the metropolis of the northwest. In 
pursuance of an act of Congress, approved on April 25, 
1890, the president issued his official proclamation (Decem- 
ber 24), inviting all nations to cooperate in the celebration. 
With splendid military and civil ceremonies the grounds 
and buildings were dedicated to the grand undertaking in 
October, 1892. 

An international review, preliminary to the formal open- 
ing, was held in New York harbor (April 27, 1893). Span- 
ish warships towed facsimiles of Columbus' vessels, the 
Santa Maria, Nina and Pinta, and in the pageant the war- 
ships of Great Britain, Russia, Germany, France and other 
nations took part. On the next day seamen and soldiers 
from the foreign men-of-war, in imposing parade, marched 
through Broadway and Fifth Avenue. 

On Monday, May 1, President Cleveland, attended by the 
vice-president and cabinet, opened the Exhibition at Chi- 
cago. The president, in a brief address, declared that the 
true significance of the scene was found in the universal 
brotherhood which it exemplified. Then he pressed the 
electric button which set in motion the many hundred pieces 
of machinery. In the entire area of 666 acres, more than 
142 acres were covered by buildings. Eighty-six princi- 
palities, colonies and nations were represented by exhibitors, 
who, during the summer, disposed of more than $10,000,- 
000 worth of the goods which they displayed. 

Nor was the convocation limited to the visible and mate- 
rial. There was no branch of human thought and activity 
which was not represented by international congresses con- 
vened. Ninety-five special committees watched over the 
general divisions of the purely intellectual departments and 
appointed advisory councils for each. It was a world's 
parliament as much as a world's exhibition. 

No words can do justice to, or give an idea of, the splendor 
and vastness of the whole, of the varied and exquisite 
architecture, or of the multitudes, representing all races, 
languages and lands, who thronged through its gates. On 
Chicago Day more than 700,000 persons were present. 



A.D. 1893-1896.] THE UNITED STATES 161 

Before it closed, on October 30, 1893, it had been visited by- 
over 24,000,000 people. "Stupendous in conception and 
admirable in execution," nothing like it had ever been 
presented to mankind. 

The Venezuela Message (December 17, 1895). — A dis- 
pute had long been going on between Great Britain and 
Venezuela. The latter country asserted that the former 
had encroached upon her territory and was arbitrarily ad- 
vancing the boundary of British Guiana to her own advan- 
tage. It was believed in America that Great Britain was 
trampling upon the rights of a weak South American state. 
In a despatch to the British government (July 20, 1895), 
Mr. Olney, the American secretary of state, had recapitu- 
lated the points at issue and asked for a definite answer as 
to whether the British government would submit the Vene- 
zuelan boundary question in its entirety to impartial arbi- 
tration. He added, in conclusion, that a reply in the 
negative would contribute to embarrass the future relations 
of the United States and Great Britain. 

The answer of Lord Salisbury, the prime minister (No- 
vember 26), was a general denial of the Monroe doctrine as 
a doctrine of international law. Furthermore he asserted 
that, even were it to be regarded, that doctrine had no ap- 
plication to the case. He concluded by firmly refusing to 
even entertain the idea of arbitration. 

In consequence of this definite reply, President Cleve- 
land (December 17) sent a special message to Congress. 
He expressed his deep disappointment that Great Britain 
persisted in her determination not to submit the matter to 
arbitration. He declared it incumbent on the United 
States, by investigation, to determine "the true divisional 
line between the Republic of Venezuela and British Guiana." 
Then, after having once ascertained what of right belonged 
to Venezuela, he declared that it would be "the duty of 
the United States to resist by every means in its power" 
any aggression upon, or appropriation of the lands of that 
state. This was a strongly worded and a significant docu- 
ment. It was received with applause and approval in Con- 
gress, but popular sentiment was divided. Many supposed 
that Great Britain would fight rather than yield. In Janu- 
ary, 1896, in accordance with his message, President Cleve- 
land appointed a boundary commission to investigate and 
determine the true frontier. However, before this com- 



162 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1897-1898. 

mission reported, Lord Salisbury had abandoned his former 
attitude and consented to a treaty of arbitration between 
Venezuela and Great Britain. This treaty was finally rati- 
fied on June 15, 1897. All for which the American gov- 
ernment had contended was attained. 

Annexation of Hawaii (1898) . — A revolution in the 
Sandwich Islands, or Hawaii, dethroned Queen Liliuoka- 
lani (January 16, 1893). At the request of the provisional 
government, the American minister landed a body of ma- 
rines and proclaimed a protectorate of the United States 
over the islands (February 1). President Harrison strongly 
advocated their annexation, but the necessary two-thirds 
vote in the Senate could not be obtained. Mr. Cleveland, 
who soon again became president, opposed the measure 
throughout his entire term. With the advent to power of 
President McKinley the annexationists, both in Hawaii and 
the United States, redoubled their efforts. They were 
strongly supported by Mr. Dole, the Hawaiian president. 
The war with Spain, when Americans were compelled to 
fight in the far Pacific, showed still more clearly the impor- 
tance of those islands to the United States. This time a 
two-thirds vote in both Houses approved annexation, and 
the bill was signed by President McKinley (July 7, 1898). 
Five years of delay had only increased the desire for" their 
acquisition. The accomplished fact was received with gen- 
eral favor in both countries. On August 16 the Hawaiian 
flag was lowered from the official staff in Honolulu and the 
Stars and Stripes took its place. 

War with Spain (1898). — It was unfortunate for Span- 
ish supremacy that Cuba was hardly more than 130 miles 
distant from the United States. The contrast was presented 
close at hand of two forms of administration, the direct op- 
posite of each other. On the mainland self-government by 
the people afforded material prosperity and security of life 
and fortune. On the island a despotic and corrupt colonial 
system ignored local interests and sought only the advantage 
of Spain, remote on the other side of the ocean. Neither 
civil, political nor religious liberty existed in Cuba. The 
Cubans were excluded from the public offices, which were 
filled by Spaniards, and oppressed by a heavy taxation to 
support the army and navy which held them in subjection. 
Their discontent grew more sullen through generations. 
They did not wish to become Americans, but it was natural 



A.D. 1898.] TEE UNITED STATES Jg3 

in the misery of their condition that they desired to possess 
and exercise some of the natural rights which their Ameri- 
can neighbors enjoyed. 

During this century they have made many conspiracies 
and insurrections. After Spain overthrew her Bourbon 
monarchy, in 1868, the Cubans at Manzanillo made a decla- 
ration of independence. Most of the South American states 
recognized them as belligerents. Spain was able to put down 
this movement only by sending to the island 150,000 sol- 
diers under her ablest commanders. The suppression of 
this rebellion required twelve years. While it went on, 
trade decreased, agriculture was neglected, but the taxes 
were more than doubled. 

During the period of partial tranquillity that ensued vari- 
ous measures of relief were proposed by the Spanish gov- 
ernment. But as to enforcement they remained a dead 
letter. Slavery however was abolished in 1886. 

The last insurrection assumed alarming proportions in 
1894. The insurgents husbanded their strength. Avoid- 
ing pitched battles, they devastated the country and cut off 
Spanish detachments wherever they could. The reprisals 
of both parties were merciless. A reign of terror prevailed 
except in the larger and garrisoned towns. Sugar and 
tobacco were the two chief Cuban products. Incendiarism 
ruined the sugar cultivation in 1896. A decree of the Cortes 
(May 12, 1896) forbade the exportation of the tobacco leaf 
except to Spain. Tobacco leaf exports, over 30,000,000 
pounds in 1895, shrank to half that amount in 1896. Thus 
the fairest island in the New World was rapidly relapsing 
into savagery and becoming a desert. Marshal Campos was 
despatched with large forces to reenforce the Spanish armies 
and restore order (April 2, 1895). General Weyler was 
sent to supersede him ten months later, but was in turn re- 
placed by General Blanco in October, 1897. The latter 
came with a proposition of autonomy for the island. In- 
cessantly a procession of warships was steaming across the 
ocean, bringing arms and ammunition and men. But the 
insurrection was not put down. Instead of showing weak- 
ness it developed strength. 

An American instinctively sympathizes with any people 
fighting against oppression and for freedom. Sympathy 
for the Cubans was expressed, as it had been many times 
before, in party platforms, at public meetings, in the press 



164 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1898. 

and pulpit and on the floor of Congress. With expense and 
difficulty the American government has sought through this 
century to enforce its neutrality laws. When general ex- 
citement prevails, this task is always difficult, even for a 
limited time. But when the disturbing causes are perma- 
nent and without alleviation, its performance becomes well- 
nigh impossible. Moreover, in such abnormal condition of 
affairs, a nation, so intimately involved in both its material 
and moral interests as the United States, has not only re- 
sponsibilities to a foreign government, but duties to its own 
people and itself. 

The American people did not wish for war; the desire, 
formerly existing for the annexation of Cuba, had died 
away, but they were resolved that the horrors in Cuba 
should cease. 

None the less, President Cleveland and his successor, 
President McKinley, strictly observed their international 
obligations. A proclamation of warning was issued (June 
12, 1895) to Cuban filibusters, and several men were arrested 
and lodged in jail. Another proclamation enforced neutral- 
ity (August, 1896). During that year the revenue officers 
captured seven filibusters and intercepted two expeditions. 
Many state conventions and legislatures in 1895 demanded 
that the Cubans should be recognized as belligerents. Beso- 
lutions to that effect passed the Senate by sixty-four votes 
to six and the House by 244 to twenty-seven (April, 1896). 
Such recognition to become effective required the assent of 
the chief magistrate, who withheld his approval. President 
McKinley, in 1897 and 1898, steadfastly opposed recognition 
of the independence of Cuba. But Spain was incensed at 
the persistence of the insurgents, at the impossibility of re- 
ducing them to subjection, and at the sympathy shown both 
them and the starving reconcentrados, or non-combatants, 
by the American people. Every communication from the 
American government was received with ill-disguised 
distrust and aversion. 

To the mounting wave of popular sentiment, which 
seemed likely to sweep everything before it, two important 
events gave added volume. The first was of diplomatic 
gravity. A letter was written by Senor Dupuy de Lome, 
Spanish minister at Washington, which not only referred 
with insulting terms to the American chief magistrate, but 
contained an intimation that Spain was not acting in good 



a.d. 1898.] THE UNITED STATES 165 

faith and was seeking, by trickery in her negotiations, to 
deceive the United States. This letter fell into the hands 
of the insurgents and was published (February 8, 1898). 
Sefior de Lome resigned, but he had caused every after act 
of his government to be regarded with suspicion. This in- 
cident was trivial compared with an awful subsequent 
tragedy. On February 15, the American battleship Maine, 
while at anchor in the harbor of Havana, was destroyed by 
explosion. More than 250 officers and sailors were in- 
stantly killed. The American court of inquiry were of 
opinion that a submarine mine caused the catastrophe. But 
whether discharged by accident or design and, in the latter 
case, by whom, is unknown. 

In view of possible contingencies the House of Represen- 
tatives, by a unanimous vote, placed $50,000,000 at the 
unqualified disposal of the president as a special fund for 
national defence (March 8). The Senate on the following 
day unanimously approved the same. After long delay, 
which contrasted strongly with the feverish impatience of 
the people, President McKinley sent an elaborate message 
on Cuban affairs to Congress (April 11). Temperate but 
firm in tone, it asked authority for the president to termi- 
nate hostilities between Spain and Cuba and to secure tran- 
quillity to the tormented island. On April 19 both Houses 
recognized Cuban independence, invited Spain to withdraw 
her land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and 
directed the president to employ the forces of the United 
States to carry these resolutions into effect. The next day 
an ultimatum was cabled to Madrid. "Without waiting for 
its reception, the Spanish Cabinet informed the American 
minister, General Woodford, that Spain regarded the action 
already taken by the United States as a declaration of 
war. 

The war thus began on April 21. On July 26, through 
M. Cambon, French ambassador at Washington, Spain 
opened negotiations for peace. The conflict had then lasted 
only ninety-six days. Its continuance had been an unbroken 
succession of calamities for Spain. To an American it is 
rendered memorable by the victory of Admiral Dewey in 
Manila Bay (May 1) when the fleet of Admiral Montojo 
was destroyed, by the annihilation of the squadron of 
Admiral Cervera off Santiago harbor (July 3), and by the 
surrender of the city of Santiago and of the adjacent dis- 



166 CONTEMPORARY HISTORY [a.d. 1898. 

trict with all the troops and munitions of war (July 17). 
The whole country knows the whole story by heart. 

The peace protocol was signed (August 12) by Mr. Day, 
American secretary of state, and M. Cambon in behalf of 
Spain. Spain had been utterly crushed and was hopeless. 
Neither had she received real friendship from a single 
European nation in the hour of her necessity and distress. 
With generosity, rare on the part of a victorious nation, the 
United States imposed no pecuniary indemnity upon the 
vanquished. But Spain was to abandon all her trans-At- 
lantic possessions and withdraw from the New World. A 
suspension of hostilities was immediately ordered. But on 
the next day, before the news could reach them, the Ameri- 
can forces in the Philippines had attacked and captured the 
city of Manila. 

This last war was far more than a mere armed struggle 
between two peoples. However long delayed, the conflict 
was sure to come between the democratic spirit of America 
and the mediaeval spirit of Spain. The continent was not 
broad enough for the permanent continuance of two so an- 
tagonistic systems face to face. When the two systems 
clashed in battle, no doubt was possible as to the ultimate 
result. But that the ships and sailors of the United States 
were destined in contribution to that result to achieve the 
first great naval victory ever won by a Christian nation on 
the waters of the Pacific, no man could have foretold. If 
the issues at stake were in their application world-wide, so 
too was the arena. 

An attempt at this early date to sum up the consequences 
would be presumption. Two at least are already sure. At 
home, in the United States points of compass are blotted 
out. The lingering wounds of the Civil War are healed. 
For Americans there is now neither a north, a south, an 
east nor a west. There is only one common country. 
Abroad, the republic has made itself respected and recog- 
nized as it never was before. Its potent voice in behalf of 
humanity and freedom has been heard around the globe. 
The State can no longer remain isolated in the Western se- 
clusion if it would. Almost against her will America has 
taken her seat in the parliament of the nations. 



INDEX 



Abd-el Kader, Emir, 91. 

Abd-ul Aziz, Sultan, 92-95, 101. 

Abd-ul Hamid II, Sultan, T9, 95-98. 

Abd-ul Kerim Pasha, 80. 

Abd-ul Medjid, Sultan, 74, 88-91. 

Abdur Rahman, Emir, 144. 

Abolition of army purchase, 1-39. 

Abolition of University Religious Tests 
Act, 189. 

Abou Naked, Sheik, 89. 

Abyssinia, Italians in, 65. 

Achmet Pasha, 91. 

Adams, Charles Francis, 134, 156. 

Adis Abeba, treaty of, 65. 

Adolf, Grand Duke of Luxemburg, 117. 

Adowa, battle of, 65. 

Adrianople, treaty of, 73. 

Affre, Monseigneur, 8. 

Afghan war, 135. 

Africa, occupation by Europeans, 142-143. 

Alabama, privateer, 133, 156. 

Alabama Claims, 134-135. 

Alidja Dagh, battle of, 79. 

Alaska, 149. 

Albert, prince-consort, 129, 133. 

Albert, Archduke, 84. 

Alexander II, Tsar, 20, 51, 75-84. 

Alexander III, Tsar, 85-86, 107. 

Alexander I, Prince of Roumania, 100. 

Alexander of Bulgaria, Prince (Prince Al- 
exander of Battenburg), 106, 107. 

Alexandra of Denmark, Princess, 113. 

Alexandria, 136. 

Algeria, Algiers, 148. 

Ali Pasha, 92, 94. 

Alix of Hesse, Princess, 86. 

Alliance, of the Three Emperors, 51 ; Triple, 
53. 

Alma, battle of, 19. 

Alphonso XII of Spain, 121-122. 

Alphonso XIII of Spain, 123. 

Alsace, 29, 51. 

Althing, 112. 

Amadeo, Prince, 121. 

Amba Alaghi, battle of, 65. 

Amelia of Greece, Queen, 108, 109. 

American Civil War, 77, 132-133, 154-155. 

Anam, 43. 

Andrassy, Count Julius, 69, 78, 82. 

Antonelli, Cardinal, 13, 57. 

Appomattox Court House, 155. 

Arabi Pasha, Colonel, 186. 

Arcadion, convent of, 98. 



Ardahan, 79, 82. 

Argyle, Duke of (1861), 133. 

Armenia, massacres in, 97, 188. 

Army bill of 1862, 54. 

Arndt, 35. 

Asia, occupation by Europeans generally, 
143-145. 

Aspromonte, engagement at, 61. 

Athens, and Cretan insurrection, 110. 

Atjeh, insurrection at, 117. 

Ausgleich, 68, 69, 71. 

Austria, return to absolutism, 12 ; war 
with France in 1859, 21 ; war with 
Prussia of 1866, 33-34; in Triple Alli- 
ance, 53 ; and Hungary, 66-72 ; and 
United States, 151, 152. 

Austria-Hungary, 66-72. 

Austro-Prussian War, 33-34. 

Bach, Alexander, 67. 

Badeni, Count, 72. 

Baihaut, M., 45. 

Balaclava, battle of, 19. 

Balkan States, 99-111. 

Ballot Act, 139. 

Balmaceda, President, 159. 

Balta Liman, convention of, 100. 

Baltic canal, 56. 

Baltimore difficulty, 159. 

Baratieri, General, 65. 

Bariatinski, Prince, 144. 

Batthyany, Count, 3. 

Bavaria, 33, 50. 

Bayezid, 79, 82. 

Bazaine, Marshal, 27, 28. 

Beaconsfield, Lord. See Disraeli. 

Beauregard, General, 155. 

Belcredi, 68. 

Belfort, 28, 29. 

Belgium, 1830 to 1898, 115-116. 

Beloochistan, 144. 

Bern, General, 11, 12. 

Benedek, Marshal, 83. 

Bering Sea controversy, 138, 159. 

Berlin, Congress of, 71, 81, 83, 135. 

Bernadotte, Marshal (Charles XIV of 

Sweden), 113. 
Beust, Count von, 68, 70, 115. 
Bismarck, 25, 29, 32, 33, 35, 52-56, 82. 
Black Sea, 75, 77. 
Blanco, General, 124, 163. 
Blanqui, 47. 
Boers, 143. 



167 



168 



INDEX 



Bohemia, 2-3, S3, 34, 70. 

Bonnemain, Madame de, 44. 

Borneo, 146. 

Bosnia, Austria-Hungary acquires, 71, 82. 

Boulanger, General, 44. 

Boule, 108. 

Bourbaki, General, 28. 

Bourgeois, M., 47, 48. 

Bourqueney, M. de, 89. 

Braganza, house of, 126. 

Bravo, Gonzales, 120. 

Bremen, 55. 

Bright, John, 133, 137. 

Brisson, M., 47. 

Broglie, Duke de, 39, 40, 42. 

Buchanan, President, 153. 

Bulgaria, 78, 104-108. 

Bulwer, Sir Henry, 105, 151. 

Bundesrath, 50, 51. 

Burke, Mr., 136. 

Burlingame, Anson, 153. 

Butt, Mr., 136. 



Cairoli, 64. 

California, discovery of gold in, 150. 

Camarilla, 119. 

Cambon, M., 125, 165, 166. 

Campos, Marshal, 121, 123, 124, 163. 

Canea, 110. 

Canning, Lord, 132. 

Canovas del Castillo, 122, 123, 124. 

Canrobert, Marshal, 19. 

Caprivi, 52. 

Caratheodoridi Pasha, 82. 

Carlist war, 119. 

Carlos, Don, 121, 122. 

Carlos I of Portugal, 126. 

Carmen Sylva, 101. 

Carnot, M. Sadi, President, 44-46. 

Casimir-Perier, President, 46-47. 

Castel, Senor, 121, 122. 

Catholic party in Belgium, 116. 

Catholicism and French republic, 45 ; in 

Prussia (1873), 52,53; in Austria, 67; 

in Switzerland, 114; in Belgium, 116; in 

Holland, 117 ; in Spain, 119. 
Catholics massacred in the Lebanon, 89. 
Cavaignac, General, 8, 9. 
Cavendish, Lord Frederick, 136. 
Cavour, Count, 20, 21, 58-61. 
Centennial Exhibition, 156-157. 
Central Committee, 37. 
Cervera, Admiral, 165. 
Chamberlain, Joseph, 137. 
Chambord, Count of (Henry V), 39. 
Charles XIV of Sweden. See Bernadotte. 
Charles XV of Sweden and Norway, 113. 
Charles of Hohenzollern, Prince, 101. 
Charles I (Prince Charles) of Koumania, 

101. 
Charles Albert of Piedmont, 4, 13, 14, 58. 
Chartists, 129. 
Chen Lan Pin, 154. 
Chicago, 160. 
Chili, 159. 

Chilian civil war, 159. 
China, 145; French war, 43; England's 



war with, 131 ; and the United States, 
153-154. 

Chinese-Japanese War, 145. 

Chinese Exclusion Act, 154. 

Christian IX of Denmark, 33, 112. 

Christina of Spain, Queen, 123. 

Church. See Papacy. 

Cisleithania, 69. 

Civil Service Reform Act, 139. 

Civil Service Reform Bill, 158. 

Civil Service Reform League, 158. 

Civil War, American, 77, 132-133, 154-155. 

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 151. 

Cleveland, President, 160, 161, 162, 164. 

Clotilda, Princess, 21. 

Cobden, Richard, 133. 

Cobden treaty, 132. 

Columbian Exposition, 159-161. 

Commune of Paris (1871), 37-38. 

Concordat of 1855, 67, 68. 

Congo Free State, 116, 143. 

Constantine, Crown Prince, 110. 

Constantine, Grand Duke, 74. 

Constantinople, 71. 

Constitution, proposed Austrian, 16 ; Bel- 
gian, 115; Bulgarian, 106; of present 
republic, 39-40 ; in Greece, 108 ; in Hol- 
land, 117 ; Portuguese, 26-27 ; proposed 
Russian, 84, 85 ; Servian, 103, 104 ; Swiss, 
114-115; Turkish, 96. 

Constitutional Assembly, Austrian (1848), 
12. 

Corrupt Practices Act, 139. 

Cortes, 122. 

Corti, Count, 82. 

Coup d'Etat of 1851, 10. 

Couza, Colonel Alexander, 100, 101. 

Cretan insurrections, 92, 97, 110. 

Crimean War, 18-20, 74-75, 89-90, 130-131. 

Crispi, 64, 65. 

Crystal Palace exhibition, 129, 130. 

Cuba, 123-125, 152, 162-166. 

Culturkampf, 52-53. 

Custozza, battle of, 13, 34, 62. 

Cyprus, 83, 135. 

Czechs. See Bohemia. 

Czrnagora. See Montenegro. 

Dahomey, 46. 

Dai'ar, battle ot, 79. 

Danilo, vladika of Montenegro, 102. 

Darboy, Monseigneur, 37. 

Day, William R., 166. 

Deak, Francis, 67, 68. 

Delyannis, M., 109, 110. 

Dembinski, 11. 

Denmark, 112-113. 

Depretis, 64. 

Derby, Lord, 132, 133. 

Dewey, Admiral, 165. 

Disarmament, British court proposes Eu- 
ropean, 21 ; suggested by Russia, 87. 

Disraeli, Beniamin, 132, 133, (Lord Bea- 
consfleld), 82, 83, 135, 136, 139-140. 

Divine Right, William II of Germany and 
government by, 54. 

Djeddah, massacres at, 91. 

Dole, Hawaiian president, 162. 



INDEX 



169 



Douay, General, 26. 
Dragomanoff, General, 47. 
Dram Dagh, battle of, 79. 
Dreyfus, Captain, 48. 
Druses, 89, 91. 
Dufaure, M., 40, 41. 
Dufferin, Lord, 9S. 
Dupuy, M., 46. 
D'Uzes, Duchess, 44. 

East India Company, English, 131, 132. 

East Indies, Dutch, 117. 

Eastern Roumelia, Province of, 82, 106, 

107. 
Ecumenical Council, 62. 
Edhem Pasha, 110. 
Egan, Mr., 159. 
Egypt, French and English control finances 

of, 42 ; occupied by British, 97, 136. 
Elena, battle of, 80. 
Elizabeth of England, Queen, 139. 
Elizabeth of Roumania, Queen, 101. 
Empire, British, 128 ; Second French, 17- 

27; modern German, 28, 36, 50-56; 

Ottoman, 88-98. 
Employers' Liability Bill, 139. 
England, 135 ; in the Crimean War, 18, 

130 ; 1848 to 1898, 128-140. 
Ernroth, General, 107. 
Espartero, Marshal, 119, 120. 
Eugenie, Empress, 17, 26, 27, 93. 
Exposition, International, in London, 129- 

130 ; in Paris (1867), 23-24, (1878), 41 ; in 

Philadelphia, 156-157; Columbian, 159- 

161 ; of 1900, 48. 
Eyre, Governor, 132. 

Falk, Dr., 52. 

Faure, M. Felix, President, 47-49. 

Favre, Jules, 27, 28. 

Federal Assembly, Swiss, 114. 

Federal Council, German, 50, 51. 

Federal Council, Swiss, 114. 

Fenian movement, 134. 

Ferdinand IV, Emperor, 2, 3, 4. 

Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Prince (Prince Fer- 
dinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), 107-108. 

Ferdinand II of Naples, 4, 13, 57, 60. 

Ferdinand of Roumania, Prince, 101. 

Ferdinand, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 
126. 

Ferdinand VII of Spain, 119. 

Ferry, Jules, 42, 43. 

Fillmore, President, 153. 

Floquet, M., 44. 

Florence, 62. 

Florida, privateer, 133. 

Forey, General, 21. 

Fort Sumter, 154. 

Fourtou, M. de, 40. 

France, under Napoleon III, 7-10, 17-27 ; 
and the Prussians, 26-29 ; 1871 to 1898, 
37-49. 

Francis V, Emperor, 57. 

Francis II of Naples, 60, 61. 

Francis Joseph, Emperor, 4, 12, 22, 51, 59, 
66-72. 

Franco-Prussian "War, 26-29. 



Frankfort, Diet of, 45 ; treaty of, 29. 
Frederick II the Great, of Prussia, 35. 
Frederick I of Germany (Crown Prince), 

26, 33, 34, (Emperor), 54. 
Frederick VII of Denmark, 31, 112. 
Frederick, Prince, heir to Danish crown, 

112, 113. 
Frederick Charles of Prussia, Prince, 33. 
Frederick William IV of Prussia, 5, 16, 31. 
Freycinet, M. de, 41, 42, 45. 
Fuad Pasha, 91, 92, 94. 
Fueros, 122. 

Fundamental Articles, 70. 
" Fundamental Statute," 57. 

Gadsden Purchase, 150. 

Gallega, General, 124. 

Galliano, Commandant, 65. 

Gambetta, 27, 28, 39, 41, 42. 

Garashanine, M., 103. 

Garfield, President, 158. 

Garibaldi, 14, 25, 60, 62. 

Gastein, convention of, 33. 

Gavril Pasha, 107. 

Geary Act, 154. 

George I of Greece, 109. 

George of Greece, Prince, 97, 110. 

Germany, unification of, 35 ; modern Em- 
pire of, 36, 50-56. 

Giers, M. de, 85, 86. 

Gladstone, 132, 133, 134, 136, 137, 138, 139- 
140. 

Goluchowski, Austrian premier in 1860, 67 

Goluchowski, Count, 72. 

Gordon, General, 137. 

Gorgei, General, 11, 12. 

Gortschakoff, Prince, 77, 79, 82, 85. 

Goschen, Mr., 137. 

Gourko, General, 80. 

Grahova, battle of, 102. 

Gramont, Duke de, 26. 

Grand Mogul, 135. 

Grant, President, 157. 

Gravelotte, battle of, 27. 

Great Britain, 1 128-140. 

Great Redan, 19. 

Greco-Turkish War of 1897, 110. 

Greece, modern, 108-111. 

Grevy, President, 42-44. 

Groudsinska, Countess, 74. 

Guadaloupe Hidalgo, treaty of, 150. 

Guarantee law, 63. 

Guizot, 89. 

Hakim, Caliph, 89. 

Halifax Award, 157. 

Hamburg, 55. 

Hanotaux, M., 49. 

Hanover, 33, 34. 

Hanseatic League, 55. 

Harrison, President, 154, 159, 162. 

Hartington, Lord, 137. 

Hatti Humayoun, 90. 

Hatti Sherif of Ghul Khaneh, 88-89, 90. 

Haussmann, Baron, 23. 

Havelock, General, 132. 

Hawaii, 162. 

Hayes, President, 154, 157-158. 



170 



INDEX 



Haynau, 57. 

Helena of Montenegro, wife of Prince of 

Naples, 103. 
Henry V of France. See Chambord, 

Count of. 
Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary acquires, 

71, 82. 
Hesse, 34. 

Hicks Pasha, General, 137. 
Hiller, General, 33. 
Hitrovo, M., 106. 
Holland, modern, 116-117. 
Holy places, question of the, 18, 74, 89. 
Home Kule, 136, 137, 138. 
Hong Kong, 145. 
Hotel de Ville burned, 38. 
Hougassoff, General Der, 79. 
Hovas, 43. 

Humbert of Italy, King, 64-65. 
Hungary, 3-4, 11-12, 67-72. 
Hunkiar Iskelessi, treaty of, 73. 

Iceland, 112. 

Ignatieff, General, 79, 85, 94. 
Imperial Diet. See Reichstag. 
Imperial Tribunal, 51. 
India, English in, 147. 
Indian mutiny, 131-132. 
Inkerman, battle of, 19. 
Ionian Islands, 109, 149. 
Ireland, 136, 137, 138. 
Isabella II of Spain, 119. 
Ismail Pasha, 92. 
Italia Irredenta, 65. 

Italy, of 1848,4; in 1850, 57-58; unifica- 
tion of, 60-65. 

Jamaica, insurrection in, 132. 

Japan, 145, 152-153. 

Jellachich, 3, 4. 

John of Austria, Archduke, 15. 

Johnson-Clarendon Convention, 134. 

Juarez, 24. 

Kainardji, treaty of, 73. 

Kameruns, 148. 

Kara George, 103. 

Karageorgevitch, Alexander, 103. 

Kars, 19, 79, 82, 135. 

Katkoff, 85. 

Kauibars, General, 107. 

Khartoum, 137. 

Khodynskoye plain, catastrophe of the, 86. 

Khourshid Pasha, 91. 

" King Bomba," 14. 

Kiritli Pasha, 92. 

Kitchener, General, 143. 

Klapka, General, 12, 71. 

Knoop, Colonel, 84. 

Komorn, battle of, 12. 

Korniloff, 19. 

Kossova, battle of, 102. 

Kossuth, 3, 11, 12-, 151. 

Koszta, Martin, 152. 

Krapotkine, Prince, 84. 

Krudener, Baron von, 80. 

Ladrone Islands, 125, 146. 



La Marmora, General, 62. 

Lamartine, 7. 

Lamoriciere, General de, 61. 

Land League, Irish, 136. 

Landtage, 69. 

Latour, 12. 

Lavigerie, Cardinal, 45. 

Lawrence, Sir Henry, 132. 

Layard, Sir Austin, 80. 

Lebanon, massacres in the, 89, 91. 

Lecomte, General, 37. 

Ledru-Eollin, 7. 

Lee, General, 155. 

Le Flo, General, 27. 

Legists, Hungarian, 67. 

Leo XIII, Pope (Cardinal Pecci), 45, 64, 

125. 
Leopold II, Archduke, 57. 
Leopold I of Belgium, 115. 
Leopold II of Belgium, 115. 
Leopold of Hohenzollern, Prince, 26, 121. 
Lesseps, Ferdinand de, 45, 46, 93. 
Liberal-Unionists, 137, 138. 
Library of the Louvre burned, 38. 
Liliuokalani, Queen, 162. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 85, 154, 155. 
Lissa, 34, 62. 
Lobanoff, Prince, 86. 
Local Government Bill, Irish, 138. 
Lombardy, 59. 

Lome, Dupuy de, 125, 164, 165. 
London, conference of, 116. 
Lorraine, 29, 51. 
Louis I of Bavaria, 5. 
Louis Napoleon. See Napoleon III. 
Lucknow, 132. 
Luiz of Portugal, 126. 
Luxemburg, 25, 115, 116. 

Macedonia, 108, 111. 

McKinley, President, 125, 162, 164, 165. 

MacMahon (Marshal), 21, 26, 27, 37, (Presi- 
dent), 39-41. 

Madagascar, 43, 146. 

Magenta, battle of, 21, 59. 

Mahdi, 136, 137. 

Mahmoud Nedim Pasha, 94, 105. 

Mahmoud, Sultan, 88, 103. 

Maine, blowing up of the, 125, 165. 

Makalle, 65. 

Malakoff, 19. 

Manila, 125, 165, 166. 

Manin, Daniel, 4, 14. 

Manteuffel, Marshal, 52. 

Marcere, M., 41. 

Maria da Gloria II, Doha, 125-126. 

Maria de las Mercedes, 123. 

Maria Louisa, daughter of Ferdinand VII 
of Spain, 119. 

Maria Pia, 126. 

Marie Dagmar, Princess, 113. 

Maronites, 89. 

Matta, Seflor, 159. 

Matveef, 84. 

Maupas, De, 10. 

Mavrocordatos, 108. 

Maximilian (Archduke), Emperor of Mex- 
ico, 24. 



INDEX 



171 



May Laws, 52, 53. 
Mazzini, 14, 60. 

Mehemet AH Pasha, 80, 82, 96. 
Melikoff, General Louis, 79, 85. 
Meline, M., 48. 
Menelek, 65. 
Mentana, battle of, 62. 
Mentchikoff, Prince, 74, 75. 
Mentshikoff, General, 19. 
Messina and Garibaldi, 60. 
Metternich, Prince, 2, 5. 
Metz, 28. 

Mexican War, 150. 
Mexico, 24. 
Mezentseff, 84. 
Mickievitch, 87. 
Midhat Pasha, 79, 94-97, 105. 
Miguel, Dom, 125. 
Milan, 4, 64. 

Milan, of Servia, King, 103-104. 
Milan, King Alexander, 104. 
Milazzo, battle of, 60. 
Militarism in German Empire, 56. 
Mill, John Stuart, 133. 
Mirko, 102. 
Modena, 57, 60. 

Mohammed Achmet. See Mahdi. 
Moldavia, 99, 100. 
Moltke, Count von, 26, 33, 35. 
Monroe doctrine, 142, 161. 
Montebello, battle of, 21, 59. 
Montenegro, 102-103. 
Montojo, Admiral, 165. 
Morny, De, half-brother of Louis Napo- 
leon, 10. 
Moscow Gazette, 85. 
Mouktar Pasha, 79. 
Mourad V, Sultan, 79, 95. 

Napier, Sir Charles, 19, 130. 

Naples, 13, 60. 

Naples, Prince of, 103. 

Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon), President, 
8-10 ; Emperor, 17-27 ; and Cavour, 59 ; 
and Francis Joseph, 59 ; and Confeder- 
ate States of America, 156. 

Napoleon IV (Prince Imperial), 42. 

Napoleon, Prince, 21, 43. 

Narvaez, 119, 120. 

Natal, Dutch Republic of, 143. 

Natalie, Queen, 104. 

National Assembly, French, (1848), 7-10, 
(1871), 29, 37, (1875), 40; German, 15; 
Prussian, 16 ; in Turkey, 96. 

National Council, Swiss, 114. 

National Irish Land League, 136. 

Navigation Act repealed, 129. 

Netherlands. See Holland. 

Newfoundland, fisheries question, 157. 

New Zealand, 146. 

Nicaragua ship canal, 151. 

Nicholas, Grand Duke, 80, 81. 

Nicholas I, Tsar, 20, 73-75. 

Nicholas II, Tsar, 86-87. 

Nicholas I of Montenegro, Prince, 102-103. 

Nicopolis, battle of (1877), 80. 

Nightingale, Florence, 130. 

Nihilists, 83-85. 



North German Confederation, 35. 
Northwestern boundary question, 156. 
Norway, 113. 
Novara, battle of, 14, 58. 

Obrenovitch, Milosch, 103. 
Oceania, 145-147. 

O'Donnell, Marshal, 120. 

Olga of Greece, Queen, 109. 

Ollivier, 26. 

Olney, Richard, 161. 

Omar Pasha, 90, 92, 94, 101, 102. 

Opium War, 144-145. 

Orange Free State, 143. 

Orleans, Duke of, son of Count of Paris, 43. 

Oscar I of Sweden and Norway, 113. 

Oscar II, 113. 

Osman Pasha, 80, 101. 

Ostend Manifesto, 152. 

Otho of Greece, King, 108, 109. 

Ottoman Empire, and Crimean War, 18 ; 

1839 to 1898, 88-98. 
Oudinot, General, 14. 

Paladines, General Aurelle de, 28. 

Palikao, Count, 27. 

Palmerston, Lord, 91, 128, 129, 131, 132, 
133 138 

Pamir difficulty, 86. 

Panama scandal, 45, 46, 47. 

Papacy and modern Italy, 4, 61-64. 

Papua, 146. 

Paris, Congress of, 20 ; (1856), 77, 78, 100 ; 
siege of, 28. 

Paris, Count of, son of Duke of Orleans, 
43. 

Parliament, Bulgarian, 106 ; Danish, 112 ; 
first national Italian, 61 ; in the Nether- 
lands, 117; Ottoman, 96, 98; Servian, 
124 ; Spanish, 122 ; in Sweden and 
Norway, 113. See Boule, National 
Assembly, Reichstag. 

Parma, 57, 59. 

Pavia, General, 121. 

Parnell, 136. 

Pecci, Cardinal. See Leo XIII. 

Pedro I of Brazil (Dom Pedro), 125. 

Pedro V of Portugal, 126. 

Pelissier, General, 19. 

Pendleton, Senator, 158. 

Penn, William, 141. 

Pepe, Italian revolutionist, 4. 

Perry, Commodore, 153. 

Persano, Admiral, 62. 

Persia, 131, 144. 

Pesth, 3, 11. 

Peter the Great, 73. 

Peter II of Montenegro, 102. 

Philadelphia, 157. 

Philip of Flanders, Prince, 101. 

Philippines, 124, 125, 166. 

Piedmont, 19, 20, 21, 57-60. 

Pierce, President, 152. 

Pietrovski, 84. 

Pius IX, Pope, 14-15, 52, 57, 61, 62-64. 

Plebiscite, 17. 

Plevna, siege of, 80, 101. 



172 



INDEX 



Plimsoll Act, 139. 

Plombieres, interview of, 59. 

Pobiedonostseff, 85. 

Porto Rico, 125. 

Portugal, 125-127. 

Pressburg, 3. 

Prim, Marshal, 120, 121. 

Protestantism in Switzerland, 114. 

Provincial Committees, 52. 

Provincial Estates of lower Austria, 2. 

Prussia, revolutionary agitation of 1848, 5 ; 
and Austria, 30-34; war with France, 
26-29 ; hegemony of, 34-35 ; position in 
German Empire, 50, 51. 

Puchner, General, 11. 

Quadrilateral, Italian, 59 ; Turkish, 80 ; 
eastern, 81. 

Eadetzki, Marshal, 4, 13, 14, 5T. 

Raglan, Lord, 19. 

Kalli, M., 110. 

Ratazzi, Signor, 61. 

Reconstruction of Southern States, 156. 

Red Cross Society, 130. 

Redcliffe, Lord Stratford de, 75. 

Redif Pasha, 80. 

Reed, W. B., 153. 

Reform Bill, English, Second, 133, 184; 

Third, 137. 
Reichsrath, 69, 70. 
Reichstag, 35, 36, 50. 
Reinstein, Captain, 84. 
Republic, second French, 7-10 ; third 

French, 37-49 ; of Saint Mark, 4 ; Swiss, 

113-115. See UniteJ States. 
Rhodesia, 143. 
Ribot, M., 47. 
Ricasoli, Baron, 61. 
Rigsdag, 112. 
Roebuck, Mr., 130. 
Rome in 1848, 14; the capital of united 

Italy, 62. 
Roon, General von, 33. 
Rosebery, Lord, 138. 
Rossi, Count, 4, 15. 
Rouher, M., 25, 62. 
Roumania, 99-102. 
" Roumania Irredenta," 102. 
Russell, Lord John, 128, 132. 
Russia, Crimean War, 18-20 ; and Turkey, 

78 ; 1825 to 1898, 73-87. 
Russo-Turkish War, 78-81, 101. 

Sadowa, battle of, 33-34, 68. 

Sagasta, 122, 123, 124. 

St. Arnaud, 10, 19. 

Saint Mark, Republic of, 4. 

Salisbury, Lord, 82, 137, 138, 161. 

Salonica, 78. 

Samoan Islands, 147. 

San Stephano, preliminary treaty of, 79, 81, 

102, 106. 
Santiago, 165. 
Say, Leon, 40, 41. 
Schamyl, 144. 

Schleswig-Holstein, 30-31, 32-33, 34. 
Schmerling, 67, 68. 



Schouvaloff, Count, 82. 

Schwartzenberg, Prince, 11, 12, 67. 

Scrutin d'arrondissement, 43, 44. 

Scrutin de liste, 43, 44. 

Sebastopol, siege of, 19-20. 

Sedan, 27. 

Sepoys, 131, 132. 

Serfs, emancipation of, 76. 

Serrano, Marshal, 120, 121. 

Servia, 103-104. 

Seward, William H., 156. 

Seymour, Sir Hamilton, 74. 

Sheik-ul-Islam, 94. 

Shimonoseki, treaty of, 145. 

Shipka Pass, 80. 

Silistria, defence of, 90. 

Simon, Jules, 27, 40, 42. 

Simpson, General James, 19. 

Skobeleff, General, 80. 

Skoupchtina, 103. 

Slavery abolished in Cuba, 163. 

Slavs, 70. 

Slivnitza, battle of, 104, 107. 

Sobranie, 106. 

Socialism, German, 56. 

Solferino, battle of, 21, 59. 

Sonderbund, 114. 

Soudan, 137, 143. 

Souleiiman Pasha, 80. 

Spain, 1833 to 1898, 119-125. 

Spanish-American War, 125, 162-166. 

Spanish succession question of 1870, 26. 

Stambouloff, M., 107, 108. 

State Council, Swiss, 114. 

Stein, Baron, 35. 

Stoiloff, Dr., 107. 

Strasburg taken by Germans, 28. 

Suez Canal, 93, 135, 147. 

Sweden, 113. 

Switzerland, 113-115. 

Taaffe, Count, 72. 

Tamatave, 43. 

Taylor, President, 151. 

Tchernaieff, General, 78. 

Tchernaya, battle of, 19, 59. 

Tegetthoff, Admiral, 34. 

Temesvar, battle of, 12. 

Thessaly, 110. 

Thiers, 26, 27, 28, 29, 37, 38, 41. 

Thomas, General, 37. 

Three Emperors, Alliance of the, 51. 

Tien Tsin, treaty of, 131. 

Tilden, Samuel J., 157. 

Tirard, M., 44, 45. 

Tirnova, 106. 

Todleben, General, 19, 80. 

Tolstoi, Count, 85. 

Tonquin, 43. 

Transleithania, 69. 

Transvaal, 143. 

Transvaal Republic, 135. 

Trent affair, 133. 

Tricoupis, M., 109. 

Triple Alliance, 53. 

Trochu, General, 27. 

T6erkoria, battle of, 80. 

Tuileries, burned, 38. 



INDEX 



173 



Tunis, 42, 64. 

Turkey. See Ottoman Empire. 

Tuscany, 59. 

Two Sicilies, 57, 60, 61. 

United Provinces. See Belgium, Holland. 
United States, 150-166 ; and Napoleon III, 

24 ; and Cuba, 124-125. 
Unterwalden, 114. 
Uri, 114. 

Valdez, General, 124. 

Vassos, Colonel, 97, 110. 

Venezuela, 161. 

Venezuelan message, 161. 

Venice, 61, 62. 

Verdun captured by the Germans, 28. 

Versailles, German Empire proclaimed at, 

28, 36 ; seat of French government, 40. 
Vichnegradzy, 86. 
Victor Emmanuel, 14, 58-64. 
Victoria of Germany, Empress, 54. 
Victoria, Queen, 128-140. 
Vienna in 1848, 2 ; treaty of (1864), 32. 
" Vienna note," 75. 
Villafranca, peace of, 22, 59, 60. 
Villagos, 12. 
Vladimir, brother of Tsar Alexander III, 

86. ' 

Waddington, M., 41, 82. 
Waldeck-Rousseau, 47. 
Waldersee, Count of, 55. 
"Wallachia, 99, 100. 
War of 1859, Italian, 59. 
"Warsaw, 87. 



Washington, treaty of, 157. 

Webster, Daniel, 151. 

Weissenburg, battle of, 26. 

Wessir Pasha, 81. 

West Indies, Dutch, 117. 

Weyler, General, 124, 163. 

White, Sir William, 98. 

Wied, Princess of, 101. 

Wilhelm of Denmark, Prince, 109, 113. 

Wilhelmina of Holland, Queen, 117. 

William I (king of Prussia), 26, 31-36, 

(Emperor of Germany), 51, 54. 
William II of Germany, Emperor, 54-56. 
William II of Holland, 116. 
William III of Holland, 117. 
William the Silent, 117. 
Willoughby, Lieutenant, 132. 
Wilson, M., 43. 
Windischgratz, 11. 
Wolseley, General, 136. 
Woodford, General, 125, 165. 
Worth, battle of, 26. 
Wurtemberg, 35, 50. 

Tassy, treaty of, 73. 
Voung Ireland party, 129. 
Young Turkey party, 95. 
Yusuf Izeddin, 95. 

Zankoff, M., 106, 107. 

Zewin, battle of, 79. 

Zola, 48. 

Zollverein, 53. 

Zug, 114. 

Zulu war, 135. 

Zurich, treaty of (1852), 22 ; (1859), 60. 



ilPR 5 1899 



i 



